Quran 13:12 · Ar-Ra'd

When there is lightning, sometimes it carries the message of pleasant weather. But sometimes it falls on the earth like a thunderbolt and burns things down. Similarly, when the clouds gather, they sometimes shower beneficial rains upon the earth. But sometimes they are the forerunners of storms and floods. This means that in this world, one and the same thing can have the aspects of both fear and hope. The One who manages the affairs of the world sends His blessings to the people of the earth by means of various phenomena. He can turn an ostensibly beneficent thing into the most destructive punishment. This state of affairs warns man that he should never consider himself to be safe from God’s scourge. Heedless human beings always wait for some unique and magical sign. But those whose consciousness is alive are successful in finding every kind of sign—of an inestimable value—in the daily affairs happening around them. They feel their hearts beat faster with the roll of thunder and the flash of lightning and when they look at the raindrops, a flood of tears flows from their eyes. The condition which the angels face on seeing the power of God directly, are one and the same as those faced by true human beings, even when they have not seen the power of God directly.