WE commented last week on the first verse in this passage and the meaning of the creation of the earth in two days. We mentioned that such days are not of the type we know on earth. Our days are a product of the position of the earth in its orbit and the time it takes to make one full circle in its position. The earth is the creation of God, the Lord of all the worlds. Yet the unbelievers allege that He has partners. How ridiculous!
We need to dwell for a moment on every phrase of this Qur’anic text before we turn our attention to the mention of the heavens in the next verse.
“He it is who placed on the earth firm mountains towering above it.” Mountains are often described in the Qur’an as ‘firm’, and in some instances the purpose of their positioning is that they ‘prevent’ the earth from shaking or swaying. This means that the mountains are firm in themselves and stabilize the earth, ensuring that it remains well balanced. In times gone by, people used to think that the earth was based on firm foundations. They are told today that the earth is nothing more than a small ball that floats in a great expanse, without support. They may be scared when they listen to such words for the first time, and some of them may begin to look warily askance, worried that the earth might shake or fall in deep space. Let such people be reassured. God’s hand holds the heavens and the earth, preventing their disappearance. Should they vanish, no one else would hold them in place. Such people should banish worrying thoughts, because the laws that govern the universe are set in operation by the Almighty who holds sway over all things.
The same scientist says: “Every event that takes place on earth, whether on its surface or below it, causing one substance to be transferred from one place to another, has a bearing on the speed of the earth as it moves in its orbit. This is not affected only by the cycle of the tide. Even when rivers carry water from one place of the earth to another, this affects the speed of its movement. The blowing wind and whatever falls into the sea or protrudes on the surface has an effect on the earth’s speed as it moves in orbit. Another thing that affects such speed is any expansion or retraction of its size, even though it increases or decreases by no more than a few feet.”
With the earth being so sensitive, it is no wonder that firm mountains are positioned over it to ensure its stability and that it does not ‘sway with you’, as expressed in verse 15 of Surah 16.
And He “bestowed His blessings on it, and measured out its varied provisions.” When our predecessors read this statement, they used to think of the vegetation that grows on earth and the useful minerals God has placed in it, such as gold, silver, iron and the like. Now that we have learned more of the great blessings God has bestowed on this planet and of the provisions He has placed in it over long periods of time, this statement gives us a much broader meaning.
We have mentioned how some elements in the air combine to produce water, while the combination of others produce the soil that supports vegetation, and another process gives us rain, the source of all fresh water in rivers, wells and springs. All this reflects the blessing God bestowed on earth and its measured provisions.
Then, there is also the air we breathe: “The earth is a circle covered with a rocky crust, and the greater part of this crust is covered by a layer of water, while above both the crust and water there is air, a thick gas layer similar to the sea, with different depths. All living creatures, man, animal and plant, live in this layer enjoying what it gives us. As we breathe we obtain the oxygen necessary for us, while plants grow their structure using carbon, or rather carbon dioxide. We eat plants, and also eat animals which in turn eat plants, and in doing so ensure our physical growth. The nitrogen in the air is needed to reduce its content of oxygen. If we were to inhale oxygen on its own, we would be burned by breathing. There remains in the air the evaporated water which gives it its freshness, and the hydrogen, as well as small quantities of other gases, such as helium and neon. Most probably these were part of the original composition of the earth and remained in the air.”
The provisions we need for survival are wider in scope than the food we eat. Yet all our food is composed of the basic elements that are present in the earth or in the air. Sugar, for example, is a compound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, while water is made of oxygen and hydrogen. The same applies to everything we eat, drink, wear or use as a tool. They are all made of earth’s elements.
All this refers in some way to the blessing bestowed on earth and the measured provisions placed in it, over a period of four of God’s days, the length of which is known only to Him.
