" All this is part of the effect of the young on the old. That is due to the strength of his station.
The young has a new covenant with his Lord because he has newly come into being. The old
person is further from Him. Whoever is nearer to Allah subjects whoever is further away
from Him, just as the elite of the near angels subject the further ones. The Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to expose himself to the rain when it
came down and to uncover his head so that it would fall on him. He said that it has a new
covenant with Allah. Look at this recognition of Allah on the part of this Prophet! What is
more glorious, more sublime and clearer than this? The rain subjected the best of men due to
its proximity to its Lord. That is a likeness of the Messenger on whom the revelation
descends. The rain called him by its own state, (2) and so he exposed himself to the rain in
order to receive from it what it brought from his Lord. If he had not received this divine
benefit from it by the rain, he would not have exposed himself to it. This is the message of
water from which Allah has fashioned every living thing "

― Ibn Arabi , The Bezels of Wisdom