Key takeaway
Quran 24:43 describes Allah driving clouds, bringing them together, making them into a heaped mass (rukām) from which rain emerges, and sending down from the sky "mountains [of clouds] within which is hail," with lightning that "almost takes away the eyesight." This sequence closely matches how cumulonimbus thunderclouds form. Small clouds merge and grow upward into towering, mountain-like clouds that produce heavy rain, hail and lightning.
The verses
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزْجِى سَحَابًا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُۥ رُكَامًا فَتَرَى ٱلْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَـٰلِهِۦ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِنۢ بَرَدٍ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُۥ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ ۖ يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِۦ يَذْهَبُ بِٱلْأَبْصَـٰرِ ٤٣
Do you not see that Allāh drives clouds? Then He brings them together; then He makes them into a mass, and you see the rain emerge from within it. And He sends down from the sky, mountains [of clouds] within which is hail, and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of its lightning almost takes away the eyesight.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُرِيكُمُ ٱلْبَرْقَ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَيُنشِئُ ٱلسَّحَابَ ٱلثِّقَالَ ١٢
It is He who shows you lightning, [causing] fear and aspiration, and generates the heavy clouds.
Key Arabic terms
| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| يُزْجِى | yuzjī | drives gently, pushes along |
| يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُۥ | yuʾallifu baynahu | joins them together |
| رُكَامًا | rukāman | piled up, heaped one on another |
| بَرَدٍ | barad | hail |
The sequence in the verse
- Clouds are driven along by the wind.
- They are brought together, small clouds joining.
- They are heaped up (rukām) into a stacked mass.
- Rain is seen coming out from within it.
- From "mountains" in the sky comes hail.
- Its lightning is dazzling.
How thunderclouds form
Cumulonimbus clouds begin as smaller cumulus clouds carried by wind. Where they converge and rising air (updrafts) is strong, they merge and grow vertically, often reaching 10–15 km or higher, much taller than any mountain on Earth. Inside these towering clouds, strong updrafts carry water droplets above the freezing level, where they freeze and grow into hailstones. Collisions between ice particles separate electric charge and produce lightning. Hail typically comes from such tall, mountain-like clouds.
"Mountains" in the sky
The phrase min jibālin fīhā min barad was understood by many classical exegetes as "from mountains [of cloud] in the sky, containing hail." From an aircraft or from the ground, cumulonimbus clouds look exactly like towering mountains, and hail forms within them.
Balanced assessment
Strong The Arabic wording directly supports the correspondence, and the fact is well established.
The order of events in 24:43 matches the life cycle of a thundercloud closely: driven, merged, heaped vertically, raining, hailing and flashing with lightning. Careful observers can see clouds gather and storms bring hail, but the link between hail and tall, mountain-like clouds is the most striking detail of the description.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Quran say about hail?
Quran 24:43 says Allah "sends down from the sky mountains [of clouds] within which is hail." Hail forms inside towering cumulonimbus clouds that can rise 10–15 km high.
References
Quran
- Quran 24:43, Saheeh International translation (Quran.com)
- Quran 13:12, Saheeh International translation (Quran.com)
Science & history
Classical exegesis is summarized from the standard commentaries (e.g. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Qurṭubī). See our methodology.
Cite this page
Quran Scientific Miracles. “Clouds, Hail & Lightning.” https://quranscientificmiracles.com/topics/clouds-hail-and-lightning/ (reviewed 2026-10-20).