وَانشَقَّتِ السَّماءُ فَهِيَ يَومَئِذٍ واهِيَةٌ

And the sky will be split open – for it will be frail that day.

EXEGESIS

Samāʾ (the sky) comes from the root sumuww (highness, elevation). The highest part in the relation of something to another, comprising different parts, is therefore called samāʾ. It is used, for example, in reference to a building’s roof or a cloud.^{‎[1]Lisan, s-m-w; Tahqiq, s-m-w.}

It is used in the Quran with different connotations including rainfall (6:6, 11:52, 71:11) and celestial bodies (2:164, 51:47), but most commonly to refer to ‘the heavens’ or the sky and space above the earth (2:2, 2:144, 14:24, 15:16, 25:61, 85:1). In 7:40, for example, it is quite evident that it refers to the metaphysical heavens as opposed to the visible one.

In the case of this particular verse, the sky may be literal or figurative, and about either or both the visible and the metaphysical samāʾ. See also the Exegesis of 72:8 for other meanings of samāʾ.

Wāhiyah (frail) is from wahy, which Lane defines as ‘to become lax, flaccid or weak, said of a (frayed) rope or other such things’. It also suggests something that is wanting in strength, compactness, firmness, or toughness. Wahā amruhu means his affair or case was, or became, weak or of an unsound state.^{‎[2]Lane, p. 3062, w-h-y.} Rāghib as well defines anything that loses its firmness and becomes flaccid as being wāhiyah, but he defines wahy as ‘the renting (shaqq) or fraying of leather or tanned skin or a cloth or something like them’,^{‎[3]Raghib, w-h-y.} which is very interesting because the Quran also speaks of the sky being split open and turning crimson like tanned leather (55:37).

EXPOSITION

Numerous verses of the Quran, when discussing the collapse of the heavens and the earth and the emergence of a new, complete, and far more perfect world, mention the renting of the sky or the heavens.

If we understand the sky to be everything in the heavens including the celestial bodies and the abodes of the angels, then the meaning of it will be frail that day is literal and it means that it will be weak and frayed despite appearing to be unshakable and impenetrable today, just like the mountains that appear to be solid and immovable, but on that day they are set moving (81:3) and will be like carded wool (101:5). Such a view is supported by other verses including: When the sky is rent apart (82:1), When the sky is split open and turns crimson like tanned leather (55:37), and The day when the sky will be like molten copper (70:8).

But the splitting open of the sky also has a figurative meaning, which is the renting of the unseen world and its inhabitants and realities becoming manifest and accessible to man. This meaning is supported by verses such as: And the sky will be opened and become gates (78:19). For more on this, see the detailed explanation under the Exposition of 82:1. See also 25:25, 42:5, 73:18, and 84:1.

[1] Lisan, s-m-w; Tahqiq, s-m-w.
[2] Lane, p. 3062, w-h-y.
[3] Raghib, w-h-y.