al-Raʿd 13:12-13

"It is He who shows you the lightning, as fear and as hope, and who raises up the heavy clouds. The thunder glorifies Him with praise, and the angels too, out of fear of Him."

خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا — two opposed feelings, in a single event. The same expression was treated at al-Rūm 30/24 (yurīkumu'l-barqa khawfan wa ṭamaʿā). I rely on that treatment.

I record this as an observation: for one who lives in the desert, lightning is both the danger of the thunderbolt and the good news of rain. The verse does not separate the two — it gives two responses to one and the same event.

This is the verse that gives the sūra its name.

The root ر-ع-د — it occurs here for the first time in the index: to rumble, to tremble. The lexicographers record the sense of "shaking, trembling" in the root (irʿāda — trembling).

And the verb must be recorded: yusabbiḥu — it glorifies.

A limit, per the method (Method): I draw no claim about meteorology from this. This question was treated at al-Isrāʾ 17/44 (wa in min shayʾin illā yusabbiḥu bi-ḥamdihi wa lākin lā tafqahūna tasbīḥahum); the verse itself says that this glorification is not understood.

وَهُمْ يُجَٰدِلُونَ فِى ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْمِحَالِ — the root ج-د-ل was the backbone of Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) (five occurrences were tabulated there) and at al-Kahf 18/54 it was named as the most marked trait of the human being. I rely on that treatment.

And the word order is worth recording: the glorification of the thunder and the disputing of the human being stand side by side in the same verse.