THIRD STAGE: "…and you see rain come pouring our from middle of them" The water particles that surround salt crystals and dust particles thicken and form raindrops, so, drops that become heavier than air leave clouds and start to fall to ground as rain. As we have seen, every stage in formation of rain is related in verses of Qur'an. Furthermore, these stages are explained in exactly right sequence. Just as with many other natural phenomena on Earth, God gives most correct explanation of this phenomenon as well, and made it known to people in Qur'an centuries before it was discovered. In another verse, following information is given about formation of rain: Have you not seen how God drives along clouds, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see rain come out of it? And He sends down from sky mountain masses (of clouds) with cold hail in them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His lightning almost blinds sight. (The Qur'an, 24:43) Scientists studying cloud types came across surprising results regarding formation of rain clouds. Rain clouds are formed and shaped according to definite systems and stages. The formation stages of cumulonimbus, one kind of rain cloud, are these:

1.STAGE, Being driven along: Clouds are carried along, that is, they are driven along, by wind. 2.STAGE, Joining: Then, small clouds (cumulus clouds) driven along by wind join together, forming a larger cloud.9 3.STAGE, Stacking: When small clouds join together, updrafts within larger cloud increase. The updrafts near centre of cloud are stronger than those near edges. These updrafts cause cloud body to grow vertically, so cloud is stacked up. This vertical growth causes cloud body to stretch into cooler regions of atmosphere, where drops of water and hail formulate and begin to grow larger and larger. When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from cloud as rain, hail, etc.10 We must remember that meteorologists have only recently come to know these details of cloud formation, structure and function, by using advanced equipment like planes, satellites, computers etc. It is evident that God has given us a piece of information that could not have been known 1,400 years ago.