Abu Musa relates that the Holy Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) remarked: ‘The case of the guidance and knowledge with which Allah has endowed me (and sent for your enlightenment) is like the rain which falls on land, part of which is good and fertile where dry grass turns green and considerable fresh vegetation is grown; and part of it is dry and it stores up the water and Allah makes it beneficial for the human beings; they drink from it and get saturated and use it for cultivation. This rain water also reached a piece of land which is wide open plain, where the water was neither retained nor could it help produce grass. Similar is the case of those who understand the knowledge of religion which Allah has sent (to the people) through me, and benefited themselves from it; and also of those who learnt it and taught it to others. Another example is of those persons who neither raised their heads and learnt it nor accepted Allah’s guidance, sent to them through me.
(Bukhari, Muslim)
The life of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) provides us with the guidance and knowledge we seek for success in life here and the hereafter. The similitude of rainfall affecting three types of land aptly describes the attitudes three types of persons generally have in regard to the guidance of Allah. Just as rain comes down from the sky, in the same way revelation comes from the Heaven and different persons react differently to it.