Commentary
The address is to those who deny resurrection. It means, are you more difficult to create and bring into existence, or is the heaven? Then it clarifies how He created it, saying, He built it. Then it explains the building, saying, He raised its height, meaning He made its extent in the direction of elevation long and lofty, a journey of five hundred years. Then He made it level and straight, smooth, without any unevenness or flaws. Or He completed it with what He knew it needed to be completed and perfected, from the saying: so-and-so arranged so-and-so's matter. The night darkened, and Allah darkened it, as you say: he wronged and wronged him. It is also said: the night darkened, just as it is said: it became dark. And He brought forth its morning light and revealed the light of its sun, as indicated by His saying, and the sun and its morning light, meaning its brightness. And their saying: the time of the morning light, refers to the time when the sun rises and its authority begins. The night and the sun are attributed to the heaven, because the night is its shadow and the sun is the lamp that pierces through its atmosphere. Its water is its springs that burst forth with water, and its pasture and grazing, which is originally the place of grazing. The earth and the mountains were established by implying 'He spread' and 'He anchored,' and this implication is conditional on interpretation. Al-Hasan read them in the nominative case as a beginning. If you say: why did He not include the conjunction with 'He brought forth'? I say: there are two aspects. One is that the meaning of 'He spread it' is that He made it spacious and prepared it for habitation, then He explained the preparation with what is necessary for its habitation, from arranging the matter of food and drink, and the possibility of settling upon it, and the stillness by bringing forth water and pasture, and anchoring the mountains and establishing them as pegs for it until it settles and remains upon it. The second is that 'He brought forth' is a state implied by 'has' as in His saying: or did they come to you while their chests were constricted? And He meant by its pasture: what people and livestock eat. Grazing is metaphorically used for humans as grazing is used in His saying: he grazes and plays, and it is read: we graze, from grazing. For this reason, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, indicated by mentioning water and pasture all that is generally benefited from and enjoyed from what comes out of the earth, even salt, because it is a commodity for you from water, as He did this for your enjoyment and for your livestock, because the benefit of that preparation reaches them and their livestock.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Nazi'at verse 32