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Ayah
Word by Word
هُوَ
He
ٱلَّذِي
(is) the One Who
خَلَقَ
created
لَكُم
for you
مَّا
what
فِي
(is) in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the earth
جَمِيعٗا
all
ثُمَّ
Moreover
ٱسۡتَوَىٰٓ
He turned
إِلَى
to
ٱلسَّمَآءِ
the heaven
فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّ
and fashioned them
سَبۡعَ
seven
سَمَٰوَٰتٖۚ
heavens
وَهُوَ
And He
بِكُلِّ
of every
شَيۡءٍ
thing
عَلِيمٞ
(is) All-Knowing
هُوَ
He
ٱلَّذِي
(is) the One Who
خَلَقَ
created
لَكُم
for you
مَّا
what
فِي
(is) in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the earth
جَمِيعٗا
all
ثُمَّ
Moreover
ٱسۡتَوَىٰٓ
He turned
إِلَى
to
ٱلسَّمَآءِ
the heaven
فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّ
and fashioned them
سَبۡعَ
seven
سَمَٰوَٰتٖۚ
heavens
وَهُوَ
And He
بِكُلِّ
of every
شَيۡءٍ
thing
عَلِيمٞ
(is) All-Knowing
Translation
It is He Who hath created for you all things that are on earth; Moreover His design comprehended the heavens, for He gave order and perfection to the seven firmaments; and of all things He hath perfect knowledge.
Tafsir
He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth, that is, the earth and all that is in it, so that you may benefit from and learn lessons from it; then, after creating the earth, He turned to, that is, He made His object, sky and levelled them (fa-sawwaahunna: the pronoun [-hunna] refers to 'sky', since, it [sky] is implicit in the import of the sentence attributed to it [the pronoun]), that is to say, He made them thus, as [He says] in another verse, [fa-qadaahunna] so He determined them [Q. 41:12]) seven skies and He has knowledge of all things, in their totality and in their individual detail, so do you not then think that the One who has the power to create this to begin with, which is much greater than what you are, also has the power to bring you back [after death]?
"Evidence of Allah's Ability
After Allah mentioned the proofs of His creating them, and what they can witness in themselves as proof of that, He mentioned another proof that they can witness, that is, the creation of the heavens and earth.
Allah said,
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الَارۡضِ جَمِيعاً ثُمَّ اسۡتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاء فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبۡعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ
He it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Istawa ila the heaven and made them seven heavens.
meaning, He turned towards the heaven,
فَسَوَّاهُنَّ
(And made them) meaning,
that He made the heaven, seven heavens.
Allah said,
فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبۡعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمٌ
And made them seven heavens and He is the Knower of everything.
meaning, His knowledge encompasses all His creation, just as He said in another Ayah,
أَلَا يَعۡلَمُ مَنۡ خَلَقَ
Should not He Who has created know! (67:14)
The Beginning of the Creation
This Ayah (2:29) is explained in detail in Surah As-Sajdah where Allah said;
قُلۡ أَءِنَّكُمۡ لَتَكۡفُرُونَ بِالَّذِى خَلَقَ الاٌّرۡضَ فِى يَوۡمَيۡنِ وَتَجۡعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَاداً ذَلِكَ رَبُّ الۡعَـلَمِينَ
وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِىَ مِن فَوۡقِهَا وَبَـرَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَأ أَقۡوَتَهَا فِى أَرۡبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاءً لِّلسَّأيِلِينَ
ثُمَّ اسۡتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَأءِ وَهِىَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلٌّرۡضِ ايۡتِيَا طَوۡعاً أَوۡ كَرۡهاً قَالَتَأ أَتَيۡنَا طَأيِعِينَ
فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبۡعَ سَمَـوَتٍ فِى يَوۡمَيۡنِ وَأَوۡحَى فِى كُلِّ سَمَأءٍ أَمۡرَهَا وَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَأءَ الدُّنۡيَا بِمَصَـبِيحَ وَحِفۡظاً ذَلِكَ تَقۡدِيرُ الۡعَزِيزِ الۡعَلِيمِ
Say (O Muhammad):""Do you verily disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two Days And you set up rivals (in worship) with Him! That is the Lord of all that exists.
He placed therein (i.e. the earth) firm mountains from above it, and He blessed it, and measured therein its sustenance (for its dwellers) in four Days equal (i.e. all these four `days' were equal in the length of time) for all those who ask (about its creation). Then He Istawa ila the heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth:""Come both of you willingly or unwillingly.""
They both said:""We come willingly.""
Then He finished them (as) seven heavens in two Days and He made in each heaven its affair. And We adorned the nearest (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars) to be an adornment as well as to guard (from the devils by using them as missiles against the devils).
Such is the decree of the Almighty, the Knower. (41:9-12).
These Ayat indicate that Allah started creation by creating earth, then He made heaven into seven heavens. This is how building usually starts, with the lower floors first and then the top floors, as the scholars of Tafsir reiterated, as we will come to know, Allah willing.
Allah also said,
أَءَنتُمۡ أَشَدُّ خَلۡقاً أَمِ السَّمَأءُ بَنَـهَا
رَفَعَ سَمۡكَهَا فَسَوَّاهَا
وَأَغۡطَشَ لَيۡلَهَا وَأَخۡرَجَ ضُحَـهَا
وَالاٌّرۡضَ بَعۡدَ ذَلِكَ دَحَـهَا
أَخۡرَجَ مِنۡهَا مَأءَهَا وَمَرۡعَـهَا
وَالۡجِبَالَ أَرۡسَـهَا
مَتَـعاً لَّكُمۡ وَلاًّنۡعَـمِكُمۡ
Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven that He constructed He raised its height, and has perfected it. Its night He covers with darkness and its forenoon He brings out (with light). And the earth, after that, He spread it out. And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture. And the mountains He has fixed firmly. (To be) a provision and benefit for you and your cattle. (79:27-33)
It is said that ""Then"" in the Ayah (2:29) relates only to the order of reciting the information being given, it does not relate to the order that the events being mentioned took place, this was reported from Ibn Abbas by Ali bin Abi Talhah.
The Earth was created before Heaven
Mujahid commented on Allah's statement,
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الَارۡضِ جَمِيعاً
(He it is Who created for you all that is on earth),
""Allah created the earth before heaven, and when He created the earth, smoke burst out of it. This is why Allah said,
ثُمَّ اسۡتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاء وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ
(Then He Istawa ila (turned towards) the heaven when it was smoke. (41:11),
فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبۡعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ
(And made them seven heavens) means, one above the other, while the `seven earths' means, one below the other.""
This Ayah testifies to the fact that the earth was created before heaven, as Allah has indicated in the Ayat in Surah As-Sajdah.
Spreading the Earth out after the Heavens were created
Sahih Al-Bukhari records that;
when Ibn Abbas was questioned about this matter, he said that the earth was created before heaven, and the earth was spread out only after the creation of the heaven.
Several Tafsir scholars of old and recent times also said similarly, as we have elaborated on in the Tafsir of Surah An-Nazi`at.
The result of that discussion is that the word Daha (translated above as ""spread"") is mentioned and explained in Allah's statement,
وَالاٌّرۡضَ بَعۡدَ ذَلِكَ دَحَـهَا
أَخۡرَجَ مِنۡهَا مَأءَهَا وَمَرۡعَـهَا
وَالۡجِبَالَ أَرۡسَـهَا
And the earth, after that, He spread it out. And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture. And the mountains He has fixed firmly. (79:30-32)
Therefore, Daha means that the earth's treasures were brought to its surface after finishing the job of creating whatever will reside on earth and heaven. When the earth became Daha, the water burst out to its surface and the various types, colors, shapes and kinds of plants grew. The stars started rotating along with the planets that rotate around them. And Allah knows best."
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