Ar-Rum 30:46
The verse names the wind together with four of its functions: (1) mubashshirāt — bearers of glad tidings (the wind before the cloud as harbinger of rain); (2) the tasting of mercy — rain and coolness; (3) the running of the ships — transport; (4) the seeking of bounty — trade and earning.
وَمِنْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦٓ أَن يُرْسِلَ ٱلرِّيَاحَ مُبَشِّرَٰتٍ وَلِيُذِيقَكُم مِّن رَّحْمَتِهِۦ وَلِتَجْرِىَ ٱلْفُلْكُ بِأَمْرِهِۦ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا۟ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
And of His signs is that He sends the winds bearing good news, to give you a taste of His mercy, and so that the ships may sail by His command, and so that you may seek of His bounty, and so that you may give thanks
Ar-Rum 30:46 · Translation: talal-itani
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A single phenomenon (a current of air) touches four distinct domains of life. The verse records the wind not as an abstract force but as a web of relations, each yielding a concrete kindness.
Observation
In meteorology the wind is an air current arising from pressure differences in the atmosphere. A low-pressure centre — warm, moist, rising air — brings rain together with the wind; the verse's "mubashshirāt" (glad tidings) fits this order of precedence (first wind, then rain). In sea transport the wind works through two distinct mechanisms: on historical square-rigged ships the main thrust arose from the wind pushing the sail directly — as the wind blew from behind or abeam, the sail caught the air like a scoop and pushed the ship along. In lateen and modern sail designs, the pressure difference between the two faces of the sail produces a secondary lift component; the seafaring of the age in which the verse was sent down largely rested on the first model — direct thrust. Today's powered ships are not as directly dependent on the wind, but most ocean currents are still driven by surface winds. The verse was written in an age that had seen the direct link between wind and ship; this link keeps the language, as it reaches us from that age, a concrete observation.
Exegesis
Classical exegetes note the sequence of lām (purpose-markers) in the verse: al-Rāzī says the four distinct lāms (li-yudhīqakum, li-tajriya-l-fulk, li-tabtaghū, laʿallakum tashkurūn) enumerate the many-sided purpose of the wind — a single natural event yields many blessings as its outcome. Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır notes that "mubashshirāt" embraces not only the good news of rain, but of provision and healing as well. The verse closes with "laʿallakum tashkurūn" (that you may give thanks) — the terminus of the observation of nature is thanks; this is the bridge between seeing an event and seeing it as a kindness.
Sources
Tafsīr: al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır · Hak Dini Kur'an Dili. Science: meteorology — low-pressure systems and the precedence of rain; naval engineering — sailing-ship aerodynamics; oceanography — standard literature on the wind–surface-current relationship.