اللَّهُ الَّذي خَلَقَ سَبعَ سَماواتٍ وَمِنَ الأَرضِ مِثلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الأَمرُ بَينَهُنَّ لِتَعلَموا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَديرٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَد أَحاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيءٍ عِلمًا
It is Allah who has created seven heavens, and of the earth [a number] similar to them. The command gradually descends through them, that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah comprehends all things in knowledge.
EXEGESIS
Samāwāt (heavens), is the plural of samāʾ and literally means the top of something. Depending on the context in the Quran, it can mean different things. Seven heavens is a recurring statement in the Quran and should refer to different dimensions of existence, physical and metaphysical. See the commentaries on verses 2:29 and 37:6 for more.
Arḍ (earth) is the bottom of something and refers to the mass that exists opposite to the sky. In the Quran it often refers to the earth as a whole, especially when used in conjunction with the sky.
Yatanazzalu (gradually descends) comes from nuzūl, meaning to come down or descend. The form tanazzul has the meaning of coming down gradually.
Amr was discussed in verse 1. Here it refers to the cosmological command of God.
Qadīr: we had discussed under verse 3 the meaning of the qadr, which derives from the same root. As mentioned there, the power of God and His setting a measure (qadar) for all things are closely interlinked. That link is further emphasised here, by pairing His power with His knowledge. Only the omnipotent and omniscient God can set a decree for all things.
Aḥāṭa means to encircle or encompass something. When something is encircled, nothing can escape from it. God is saying here that He encompasses all things in knowledge, thus nothing escapes the knowledge and attention of God.
EXPOSITION
This final verse serves as the conclusion of the surah. In this verse, the main theme (the order of God) is naturally revisited and restated. We are told a bit about how it works and why it is important for us to be aware of it.
In this case, the final verse can also be considered the peak or the crescendo. The one, long, and uninterrupted sentence (in Arabic) highlights this raising intonation in recitation, creating the effect of a crescendo. Once again, text and subtext go hand-in-hand, as the crescendo is reached when the verse raises our attention to the heavens above.
We are told, It is Allah who has created seven heavens, and of the earth [a number] similar to them. Similar to them should mean in number not in quality, because the qualities of the heavens differ from the qualities of the earth. Interestingly, there is no other verse in the Quran that suggests there are seven earths, other than this verse, and hence the opinions on it are divided. It is most likely referring to different dimensions of existence, other than our physical one.
After drawing our attention to His creation of the different spheres of existence, God then tells us that The command gradually descends through them. The command here is referring to the cosmological command of God, by which He decrees how things should come to pass; who dies and who lives, who is rich, who is poor, who is sick who is healthy, and everything else that occurs. Say: ‘Who provides for you out of the sky and the earth? Who controls [your] hearing and sight, and who brings forth the living from the dead and brings forth the dead from the living, and who directs the command (amr)?’ (10:31). As is apparent from the verse under discussion, directing The command relates to how the decree of God manifests itself in the physical world.
This descent of the decree that permeates all of existence is closely linked to the concept of the divine Throne (ʿarsh), and is often mentioned alongside that and descriptions of the orderliness of God’s creation and the universe; it is part of God’s sovereignty over all of creation: He directs the command (amr) from the heaven to the earth (32:5).
There remains the question as to why the verb yatanazzalu (gradually descends) is used, instead of yanzilu, (descending immediately and at once). To answer this, we must delve a little deeper into the concept of amr. We should know first that the worlds of amr (decree) and khalq (creation) are two different types of reality: Indeed your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then settled on the Throne. He draws the night’s cover over the day, which pursues it swiftly, and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, [all of them] disposed by His command. Look! All creation (khalq) and command (amr) belong to Him. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds (7:54).
The decree of God descends from the throne through different levels of creation, giving the universe its order and harmony. The reality of the decree is the reality of God’s will, and that is one unified reality, undivided, and uninterrupted by time: Indeed We have created everything in a measure (qadar), and Our command (amr) is but a single [word], like the twinkling of an eye (54:49-50).
That is why God describes His will as being unconstrained by time or causality, All His command (amr), when He wills something, is to say to it ‘Be’ and it is (36:82). This is all occurring in the realm of amr. However, the cosmological command takes time to manifest itself in the creation of God (khalq). Whereas in the metaphysical world of amr things happen ‘instantly’ (although there is no time there, so ‘instantly’ is also misleading), in the physical world there is time and causality. Things happen through chains of cause and effect and these take time to manifest themselves. Therefore, it is most accurate indeed to describe the amr as gradually descends. Even though the command is one, it manifests itself gradually and differently in the various levels of creation.
After telling us all this, God declares that this is important for us to know, so that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that only the All-powerful could manage such a thing. This power must of course be held by an omniscient being that comprehends all things in knowledge or else it would not result in the order and harmony that is necessary.
When a Lord like this then decrees something to His servants, legislating how they should divorce and how they should treat each other, can anyone doubt that these rulings are in the best interest of all?
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- From Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), that Imam Ali (a) said: ‘These stars that are in the sky have cities like the cities on the earth. Each city is linked to another city by a pillar of light, the length of that light in the sky is the distance of a 250-year journey.’
Note: This has been interpreted by some to mean different planets that are inhabited by creatures living on other distant planets.
Even though seven earths are only alluded to once in the Quran (in this surah), there are some explicit mentions of it in narrations. For example:
- From Abū Baṣīr, that Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘The supplication (qunūt) of Friday, in the first unit (rakʿah) after the recitation (qirāʾah), is to say: there is no god but the all-forbearing, generous God; there is no god but the all-exalted, the all-supreme God; there is no god but God, the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the seven earths, and what is in them and what is between them, the Lord of the exalted Throne; and praise is to God, the Lord of the worlds.’
- From Hasan ibn Ali al-Aḥmarī, that Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘Whoever takes one span of land unjustly will come with it from the seven earths, hanging around his neck on the Day of Judgement.’
- From Saʿīd ibn Zayd, that the Prophet said: ‘Whoever deals with the land unjustly in any way will carry it from the seven earths.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
The exegetes are divided over the meaning of It is Allah who has created seven heavens, and of the earth [a number] similar to them. While there are many antiquated interpretations, there are also many surprisingly interesting theories that the classical exegetes have suggested regarding the meaning of this verse:
- Ṭabrisī relates that some have claimed that the seven earths are in layers (ṭibāq), just like the seven heavens, as in He created seven heavens in layers (67:3), because if they were next to each other, they would be named one earth, and that each layer has its own creatures that live there. Ṭabarī attributes this opinion to Qatādah.
- Ṭabrisī attributes to Ibn Abbas that the seven earths are not in layers, but that they are separated by oceans, and they are all under the shade of the same sky. This may be referring to the seven continents.
- In another opinion attributed to Ibn Abbas, Ṭabarī relates that ‘in every earth [of these seven] there is an Abraham and something similar to what is found on the earth’. He also relates from Ibn Abbas: ‘If I told you its interpretation (tafsīr) you would become disbelievers, and your disbelief would be because you belied it.’ This seems to be speaking about what we would today construe as seven parallel realities, or alternate universes. In addition to relating this, Ibn Kathīr relates from Bayhaqī’s book, al-Asmāʾ wa al-Ṣifāt, that Ibn Abbas said: ‘Seven earths, in each earth there is a prophet like your Prophet, an Adam like your Adam, a Noah like your Noah, an Abraham like your Abraham, and a Jesus like your Jesus.’ Ālūsī says this would mean that they are other worlds that also had an original forefather like Adam (a) and outstanding figures like Noah (a). It could also mean that the different dimensions are reflections of our world, and that the various metaphysical representations of what exist in this world are found in those as well.
- In yet another opinion attributed to Ibn Abbas, these seven realms would be the realms of creatures like the jinn or angels.
- Rāzī also says it could be referring to seven realms (aqālīm) in seven planets (kawākib) in orbits (sayyārah), each planet having its own specific conditions which manifest in that realm.
- Ṭabarī relates from Mujāhid: ‘This earth compared to that earth is like a pavilion set up in the middle of a barren land, and this sky compared to that sky is like a ring that has been thrown into a barren land.’
It has also been suggested that seven is a numeral used to imply many (ʿadad al-takthīr), and that the earths could number more than seven. There are also some other even more fantastic opinions that we have not related.
More modern exegetes have also suggested some new interpretations:
- Marāghī proposes that seven here means many, and is referring to earth-like planets. He argues they are millions in number, and that seven simply implies many. Ālūsī adopts almost the same view, but states that there are simply seven such planets. Tehrānī also agrees with this interpretation of planets, and adds that according to the verse, Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and whatever creatures He has scattered in them (42:29) there is life and other creatures on the other planets as well. He also adds that the decree in the verse is the legislative decree, and that all these different beings have each received their own revelations and codes of law.
- Similar to what was mentioned earlier, some have offered that it could mean the seven continents (aqālīm).
- That it refers to seven layers in the earth, like the mantle, crust, core, and so on.
- That similar (mithl) here does not refer to a number, but rather that ‘as God has created the heavens, so like that – similarly – He has also created the earth’. The proponents of this view have argued that everywhere else in the Quran, earth is only referred to as one.
Some have also opined that perhaps scientific advancement in the future will let us know even more about such verses. Others, like Faḍl-Allāh have bemoaned that we have no way of knowing what it actually means because there are no reliable traditions that explain it, and the verse is ambiguous.
Whilst many of these opinions are interesting and perhaps even unproblematic, many of them are also mutually exclusive. As for which one is the most correct, that is a question that is difficult to answer with any certainty, but as stated earlier it most likely refers to different dimensions or realities. As they would probably function very differently to our physical world, no details are offered in the Quran about them, as any description would be outside our conceptual framework. Hence, it is also difficult for us to speak with any certainty on the matter; and God knows best.
As for His saying The command (amr) gradually descends through them, Ṭabrisī asserts that the receiver of the decree (ṣāḥib al-amr) is the Prophet, and that this refers to the descent of the angels to the prophets. Similar to that Rāzī attributes to ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, that amr here refers to revelation descending to each realm.
Finally, Makārim Shīrāzī offers that the statement that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah comprehends all things in knowledge means that creation has been imbued with such vastness so that man may know the power of God and His supreme knowledge of all things.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
- For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
- I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
- Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
[1] Raghib, p. 427.
[2] Raghib, p. 73.
[3] Lisan, 11/657.
[4] Tibyan, 10/42.
[5] Tibyan, 10/41. The majority opinion is that similar here means in number, however many exegetes – especially classical ones – have argued that they also share the quality of being in levels; see for example Tantawi, 14/461.
[6] Tibyan, 10/41; Thalabi, 9/324. This opinion is also related from Mujāhid (Razi, 30/566). It is related from Ibn Kaysān that this is the vast meaning of the word amr, such as saying that rain is God’s amr, death is God’s amr, wind is God’s amr, and so on (Qurtubi, 18/176).
[7] Nemuneh, 24/263. See also verses 10:2-3, 10:31, 13:2, and 41:12.
[8] Even in this last verse of Sūrat al-Ṭalāq creation and decree are mentioned together.
[9] The word baynahunna literally means between them and could be referring to the difference in quality of these realms and how the amr manifests itself in them, and is therefore used instead of fīhinna (in them).
[10] Qummi, 2/218-219.
[11] Kafi, 3/426.
[12] Bukhari, 3/100.
[13] Tabrisi, 10/466-467. See also Qurtubi, 18/175.
[14] Tabari, 28/99.
[15] Tabrisi, 10/467.
[16] Tabari, 28/99.
[17] Ibn Kathir, 8/178.
[18] Alusi, 14/338.
[19] Alusi, 14/337.
[20] Razi, 30/566.
[21] Tabari, 28/99. Somewhat related to this is a narration from ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Masʿūd that the seven heavens are one on top of another, between each being the distance of 500 years, and likewise for the earths, and that on top of the seventh heaven there is water and that God’s Throne sits on top of the water, from which He observes creation. This is referring to the verse, It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days – and His Throne was [then] upon the waters (11:7).
[22] Razi, 30/566; Nemuneh, 24/261.
[23] Such as the opinion attributed to Rabīʿ ibn Anas that the different heavens are different worlds made of gold, silver, rubies, iron, etc. (Tabari 28/99). Even classical exegetes found these opinions to be unreasonable; see for example Razi, 30/566.
[24] Maraghi, 28/151.
[25] Alusi, 14/339.
[26] Furqan, 28/421-422.
[27] Mizan, 19/326; Alusi, 14/339.
[28] Alusi, 14/338.
[29] Alusi, 14/339.
[30] Nemuneh, 24/263; Mudarrisi, 16/88.
[31] Fadlallah, 22/301.
[32] Tabrisi, 10/467.
[33] Razi, 30/566.
[34] Nemuneh, 24/263.
[35] Jeremiah 32:17.
[36] Romans 1:20.
[37] Job 42:2.
[38] Psalms 147:5.