Are you indeed with two hamzas? The second is between the two. And 'ainukum, with an alif between the two hamzas. That is the one who was able to create the earth in the duration of two days. He is the Lord of the worlds. He made mountains as stabilizers. If you say: What is the meaning of 'from above it'? And has it been abbreviated to 'and He made in it stabilizers' like His saying, 'and We made in it towering stabilizers', and 'and We made in the earth stabilizers', and 'and He made for it stabilizers'? I say: If they were beneath it like pillars for it to rest upon, or like pegs in it, they would also prevent from the field. Rather, He chose to anchor them above the earth, so that the benefits in the mountains would be exposed to those who seek them, present to those who obtain them. And to see that the earth and the mountains are weights upon weights, all of which are in need of a holder that they cannot do without, and He is their holder, glorified and exalted is He, by His power. And He blessed in it and increased its goodness and made provisions in it for the sustenance of its people and their livelihoods and what is good for them. And in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: 'and He divided in it its provisions in four days equally'. That is the duration of Allah's creation of the earth and what is in it, as if He said: All of that in four complete days without increase or decrease. It is said: Allah created the earth on Sunday and Monday, and what is in it on Tuesday and Wednesday. And Al-Zajjaj said: In four days, in the completion of four days, meaning by completion the two days. And it was read: equally, with the three movements: genitive as a description, accusative as: it became equal, meaning: equality; and nominative as: it is equal. If you say: What does His saying 'for those who ask' relate to? I say: To something omitted, as if it were said: This specification is for the one who asked: In how many days was the earth and what is in it created? Or it can be understood: that He determined in it the provisions for those who seek them, in need of them from those who eat. This last interpretation is only valid according to the explanation of Al-Zajjaj. It was said: 'Indeed, His saying in four days is a specification for the duration of Allah's creation of the earth and what is in it, as if He said: And He determined in it its provisions in two other days, so that is four days equally. And He said: And the meaning of equally is completely equal without increase or decrease.

It was reported from Al-Zajjaj that the meaning of the verse is in the completion of four days. He means by completion: the two days. Then he said: If you say, what does the saying 'for those who ask' relate to? He answered that it is related to something omitted, as if it were said: This restriction is for the one who asked: In how many days was the earth and what is in it created? Or it can be understood that provisions were measured in it for the needy ones who require them from those who eat. Then he said: This last interpretation only stands firm based on Al-Zajjaj's explanation. Ahmad said: He did not clarify his reliance on the first interpretation, and we will clarify it. We say: The implication of the first interpretation is that the saying 'in four days' is a summary, and it is customary for it to occur at the end of the speech after its completion. If the saying 'for those who ask' were related to something measured, it would necessitate the occurrence of the summary in the middle of the speech, which is not the case according to Al-Zajjaj's interpretation. For the four days, according to him, are from the completion of the first, and it is related to something measured in the interpretation of the omission of the completion, making the relationship of the circumstance to the circumstantial object suitable for completing the speech by clarifying the purpose of creating provisions after clarifying who created them. And the interpretation of Al-Zajjaj - and Allah knows best - is more preferable, for it includes mentioning the duration of the creation of provisions with the close interpretation that he measured, and it contains what serves as the summary, as it mentions the total number which is the circumstance for their creation and the creation of their provisions. According to Al-Zamakhshari's interpretation, the summary is mentioned without prior specification of all its details, for he mentioned only two days specifically, and it is customary for the summary to precede the text on all its detailed numbers, then it comes generally like His saying: 'So the fasting of three days during the pilgrimage and seven when you return; those are ten complete.' If you say: Why was it not said 'in two days'? And what benefit is there in this summary? I say: If it is said 'in four days' and it has been mentioned that the earth was created in two days, it is known that what is in it was created in two days. Thus, the choice remains between saying 'in two days' and saying 'in four days' equally. So, there was a benefit in 'in four days' that is not in 'in two days', which is the indication that they were complete days without increase or decrease. If it had been said: 'in two days' - and the two days can refer to more than one of them - it would have been permissible to mean the first two and the last two more than one. Then He rose to the heaven from the saying: He rose to such a place, when He directed Himself towards it without turning away from anything, and it is from the rising that is the opposite of bending. Similar to their saying: He straightened towards it and extended towards it. And from it is His saying: 'So be steadfast towards Him.' The meaning is: Then the call of wisdom urged Him to create the heavens after creating the earth and what is in it without any deterrent preventing Him from that. It was said: His Throne was upon the water before the creation of the heavens and the earth, then He brought forth from the water smoke, which rose above the water and ascended over it, then He dried the water and made it one land, then He split it and made it two lands, then He created the heaven from the rising smoke. And the meaning of the command of the heaven and the earth to come and their compliance is that He intended to create them, and they did not refuse Him, and they existed as He wanted them to be. In that, they were like the obedient commanded one when the action of the obeyed commander came to them. It is from the metaphor that is called representation. It may also be a figurative expression, and the command is based on the fact that Allah spoke to the heavens and the earth and said to them: Come whether you want it or refuse it, and they said: We came willingly, not unwillingly. The purpose is to depict the effect of His power in the created things only, without confirming anything of the speech and response. Similar to the saying of someone: The wall said to the stake: Why did you split me? The stake said: Ask the one who drives me in, for he did not leave me, behind me is the stone that is behind me.

I have previously denied the use of the term 'imagination' regarding the words of Allah, the Most High. For if this usage were correct and the intended meaning was depiction, it would be necessary to avoid expressing it with this phrase, due to the implication and lack of proper etiquette involved in it. And Allah knows best. If you say, why was the earth mentioned alongside the sky and included in the command to come forth, while the earth was created two days before the sky? I say: The substance of the earth was created first, unformed, then it was formed after the creation of the sky, as He, the Most High, said: 'And the earth, after that, He spread it out.' The meaning is: Come forth in the manner that you ought to come forth in form and description: O earth, come forth as a settled place and a resting place for your inhabitants, and O sky, come forth as a dome for them. And the meaning of coming forth is: obtaining and occurring, as you say: 'His work came forth pleasing,' and 'He came accepted.' It is also possible that the meaning is: Let each of you come forth to its companion in the coming forth that I desire and that wisdom and planning necessitate: that the earth be a resting place for the sky, and that the sky be a dome for the earth. This is supported by the reading of those who read: 'coming' and 'we came': from the mutual coming, which is agreement: that is, let each one come to its sister and let them agree. They said: 'We have agreed and assisted.' It is possible to interpret it as agreeing with My command and My will, and do not refrain. If you say: What is the meaning of 'willingly or unwillingly'? I say: It is an example of the necessity of the effect of His power in them, and that their refraining from the effect of His power is impossible, as the Mighty One says to those under His control: 'You will do this whether you wish or not, and you will do it willingly or unwillingly.' Their standing is in the state of being: willing or compelled. If you say: Why was it not said: 'willing' in the wording? Or 'willing' in the meaning? Because they are skies and earths. I say: Since they were addressed and responded, and described as willing and unwilling, it was said: 'willing' in the place of 'willing,' similar to His saying: 'those who prostrate.' Ahmad said: He did not clarify the answer to the other question, which is that within the verse there are two questions: One is, why was it mentioned while it is feminine, and this is the question he raised. The second is, how can it be in the plural of rational beings while it does not have reason? This was not mentioned, so the answer he provided is specific to the question he did not mention. This is why he referred to the saying: 'those who prostrate,' for that verse does not contain anything other than the question about its being in the plural of rational beings. As for the other question, it does not, because the speech refers to the stars, which are masculine, and although the sun is feminine, the masculine form predominates in speech over the feminine in the known manner. As for this verse, it adds to that with this other question: that all that has been mentioned of the skies and the earth is feminine, so it is first said: why was it mentioned, and secondly: why was its plural in the masculine form of the plural of rational beings, to establish the relationship between the question and the answer? The willingness that is specific to rational beings does not apply to it, and there has not been a shift from the feminine plural to the masculine plural due to the existence of the form indicating reason in it. Thus, the benefit is completed by interpreting the skies and the earth as the spheres, for example, and what is similar in the masculine form, then the masculine predominates over the feminine, and such an interpretation is not absent in the earths as well.

So He completed them. It is permissible for the pronoun in it to refer to the heavens in meaning, as He said, "obedient" and similar to it, "the trunks of palm trees empty." It is also permissible for it to be an ambiguous pronoun explained by "seven heavens." The difference between the two constructions is that one is in the state (hal), and the other is in the specification (tamiz). It is said that Allah created the heavens and what is in them in two days: on Thursday and Friday, and He completed it in the last hour of Friday. He created Adam in it, and it is the hour in which the Day of Resurrection occurs. In this is evidence for what I mentioned, that if it were said: "in two days" in the place of four days, it would not be known whether they are two complete days or incomplete. [Mahran said: "It is said that Allah, the Exalted, created the heavens and what is in them on Thursday and Friday, and completed it in the last hour of Friday, and created Adam at the end of the day, and in it the Day of Resurrection occurs. Then he used this as evidence for what he mentioned, that if he said: 'in two days' in the place of four days, it would not be known whether they are two complete days or incomplete." Ahmad said: "It is as if he is using the omission of the two days for emphasis, since the creation of the heavens and what is in them was not included in the total of the two days, indicating that it was only the days of the creation of the earth and what is in it: because if he had detailed it, there would have been no evidence for the completeness of the creation for each of the two days, but it could be that the creation was in one of the two days and part of the other, as was in this verse according to the narration mentioned. This does not fulfill his purpose, for the speaker can say: 'The creation of the heavens and what is in them was in two complete days, because Adam was not in the heavens at that time, and he created him as the two days were completed according to what was narrated.' So reflect on this."] If you say: If it were said: "He created the earth in two complete days and appointed its sustenance in two complete days." Or if it were said after mentioning the two days: "Those are four days, in total?" I say: What He has mentioned, glorified is He, is more concise, clearer, and better in accordance with what is revealed from the depths of the minds and the places of the gathering, [The phrase "from the depths of the minds and the places of the gathering" means the places of diving for pearls and the places of the gathering of the caravans.] so that the superior is distinguished from the inferior, the advanced from the delayed, ranks are raised, and rewards are multiplied according to what He commanded in it and arranged from the creation of the angels, the lights, and others. Or its affair and what makes it suitable, and we preserved it with preservation, meaning from the stealing by the stars. It is permissible for it to be a purpose in meaning, as if He said: "And We created the lamps as adornment and preservation."