His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We have certainly made in the heaven constellations and We have adorned it for the observers." "And We have protected it from every accursed devil." "Except for one who steals a hearing and is pursued by a clear flame." "And the earth We have spread out and We have placed therein firm mountains and We have caused to grow therein of every balanced thing." "And We have made for you therein livelihoods and for that which you are not providers." "And there is not a thing except that with Us are its treasures, and We do not send it down except by a known measure."

He mentioned that if they had seen the mentioned sign in the heaven, they would have opposed it thereafter with this verse. It is as if he said: And indeed, in the heaven there is a lesson set forth other than this mentioned one. Their disbelief in it and their turning away from it is persistence from them and arrogance. The constellations are the stations, and one of them is a constellation. It is named so for its appearance and clarity. From it is the tabarruj of a woman, which is her appearance and showing. The Arabs say: "The thing has appeared" if it has become visible and elevated.

And the protection of the heaven is by stoning with the meteors, as the authentic hadiths have included. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, the devils approach the heaven in groups. Then a rebellious one among them separates, ascends, hears, and is struck by a meteor. He says to his companions while panting: 'It is of this matter such and such,' and the devil adds to that, and they convey to the soothsayers, and they add a hundred to the word." And similar to this hadith. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The meteors injure and harm but do not kill." Al-Hasan said: "They kill." And in the hadiths, there is evidence that the stoning was in the time of ignorance, but it intensified during the time of Islam, and the heaven was completely protected. Al-Zajjaj said: "It was not except after the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him; as evidence that the poets were not compared to it in speed except after Islam." Al-Zahrawi mentioned from Abu Rajaa al-Uttaridi that he said: "We did not see the stoning with the stars before Islam." And "rajim" means stoned, and it is a form indicating what has been stoned, either from the stoning of the meteors or from the stoning which is cursing and reproach. It is said: "I followed the man" and "I pursued him" mean the same. And "except" means but, this is one opinion, and the apparent meaning is that the exception is from the protection. Muhammad ibn Yahya reported from his father: "Except for one who steals a hearing, for it has not been protected from him," as mentioned by Al-Zahrawi.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the earth We have spread out" is narrated in the hadith that the earth was swaying with its people as a ship sways, so Allah, blessed and exalted is He, stabilized it with mountains. It is said: "The thing has anchored" if it has become firm and stable. And His saying: "balanced," the majority said: Its meaning is: measured and determined with intention and will. So, the weight in this is metaphorical. Ibn Zayd said: What is meant is what is truly weighed, such as gold and silver and other things that are weighed.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first is more general and better.

'The 'ma'āyish' is the plural of 'ma'īsha'. Al-A'mash read it with a hamzah, and likewise Khārijah narrated from Nāfi'. The preferred way is to omit the hamzah, because the original of the 'yā' in 'ma'īsha' is the vowel, so it returns to the original in the plural, unlike 'madīna' and 'madā'in'. His saying: ﴿And whoever you do not provide for﴾ can be understood in three ways: One is that 'man' is in the accusative case as an addition to 'ma'āyish', as if Allah, the Exalted, has enumerated the blessings in the livelihoods, which are what is eaten and worn. Then He enumerated the blessings in animals, slaves, and properties, and other things by which people benefit and for which their sustenance is not upon them. The second way is that 'man' is added to the place of the pronoun in 'lakum', and that is that the estimation is: 'And We have provided you and provided nations other than you from the animals.' It is as if the verse - in this case - has a consideration and presents a verse. The third way is that 'man' is in the accusative case by implying a verb that is required by the apparent meaning, and its estimation is: 'And We have provided for whoever you do not provide for.' It is possible that 'man' is in the genitive case as an addition to the pronoun in 'lakum', and this is problematic in grammar, because it is the addition to the pronoun that is in the genitive case, and there is something unpleasant in it. It is as if he said: 'And for whoever you do not provide for, while you benefit from it.'

And His saying: ﴿And there is nothing except that with Us are its treasures﴾, Ibn Jurayj said: It specifically refers to rain.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It should be that it is more general than this regarding many of the creations. And 'the treasures' are the containing places. The apparent meaning of this is that water, wind, and similar things are created and present. This is evident in their saying about the wind: 'It has surged upon the treasures, and a hole the size of a ring has opened from it; if it were the size of a bull's nostril, it would have destroyed the earth,' and other such evidences. Some people have gone to the view that its existence in the ability is its storing, so when Allah wills, He brings it into existence. This is also evident in many things, and it is necessary in attributes if we generalize the term 'thing'. However the matter is, the ability encompasses it and perfects it.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And what We send down﴾, what is from the rain and similar things, the descent in it is established. And what is from other than that, its existence and the enabling of benefiting from it is a descent in a figurative sense. Al-A'mash read: 'And what We send down except by a known measure.' And His saying: ﴿by a known measure﴾, it has been narrated in it from Ibn Mas'ud and others that there is no year that has more rain than another year, but Allah sends it down in certain places rather than others.