A Journal of Islamic Studies

Another idea, that of those who do charitable acts yet spoil what they have done by gloating and reminding others of such acts is conveyed thus:

they are in a parable like a hard, barren rock on which is a little soil: on it falls heavy rain which leaves it just a bare stone. (2: 265)

The opposite case, namely that of those who spend for God's sake rather than in order to boast, is also expressed through imagery:

as a garden, high and fertile; heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest. (2: 265)

Earlier in the same sura, the same idea is conveyed through a different figure of speech:

The parable of those who spend their money in the way of God is that of a grain of corn: it groweth seven ears and each ear hath a hundred grains. (2: 261)

Criticizing those who worship gods other than Allah, the Qur'an likens their actions to that of a spider building a web:

The parable of those who take protectors other than God is that of the spider building for itself a house; but, truly, the flimsiest of houses is the spider's house. (29: 41)

Doomsday is one of the frequent themes of the Qur'an. The description of the horrors of that day is also presented through figures of speech:

for the convulsion of the Hour will be a terrible thing! The day ye shall see it, each mother giving suck shall forget her suckling-babe, and each pregnant female shall deliver her load. Thou shalt see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not drunk. (22: 2)