Those in the heavens have two meanings: the first is from His dominion in the heavens, for it is the dwelling place of His angels, and there is His Throne, His Chair, and the Preserved Tablet. From it descend His decrees, His books, His commands, and His prohibitions. The second is that they used to believe in anthropomorphism, that He is in the heavens, and that mercy and punishment descend from Him. They would invoke Him from that aspect. So it was said to them according to their belief: 'Do you feel secure from the one you claim is in the heavens, who is exalted above place, that He would punish you with a sinking or a storm, as you say to some of the anthropomorphists: 'Do you not fear from above the Throne that He would punish you for what you do?' When you see the warning, you will know how my warning is, when knowledge will not benefit you. The saying ' صفَّاتٍ باسطات أجنحتهن في الجوّ عند طيرانها' means that when they spread their wings, their tips align. [Mahamud said: 'Its meaning is: spreading their wings, for when they spread them, their tips align... etc.' Ahmad said: 'This meaning is noted in the saying وَالطَّيْرَ مَحْشُورَةً after the saying إِنَّا سَخَّرْنَا الْجِبالَ مَعَهُ يُسَبِّحْنَ, and it did not say 'مسبحات', like 'محشورة' due to its proximity to this interpretation, and indeed he has excelled in it greatly.'] They align and they fold them when they strike their sides. If you say: 'Why was it said: 'وَيَقْبِضْنَ', and it was not said: 'وقابضات'?' I say: Because the origin in flying is the alignment of the wings, for flying in the air is like swimming in water, and the origin in swimming is the extension of the limbs and spreading them. As for folding, it is incidental to spreading for the purpose of movement. So it was brought in the form of an action, meaning that they are aligned, and among them is the folding at times, just as it is for the swimmer. None holds them except the Most Merciful by His power and by what He has arranged for them of the tips and the feathers. [The saying 'من القوادم والخوافي' in the dictionaries means 'the tips of the birds': the leading feathers, which are ten feathers on each wing. The 'خوافي' are what is beneath the ten feathers from the front of the wing.] And He has created bodies in a form and characteristics that allow them to glide in the air. Indeed, He is All-Seer of everything, knowing how to create and how to manage wonders.