وَإِلَى السَّماءِ كَيفَ رُفِعَت

And the sky, how it has been raised?

EXPOSITION

And the sky, how it has been raised? alludes to its perfection. It is in line with other verses that invite man to stare at the heavens – and then look away and stare again – to see if they can find any flaw in its creation (67:3), and how it has been raised without any visible support (13:2) and adorned with celestial objects and innumerable galaxies for one who gazes at them (15:16, 50:6) in a starry night sky. We have built the sky with might, and indeed it is We who are its expanders (51:47).

Consider its complexity and size, the Quran asks, and then compare this cosmos with the weak, vulnerable man who arrogantly denies his Creator and assumes its clockwork perfection (36:38-40) was an accident: Are you harder to create or the heavens? He built it! (79:27). To God, of course, creating neither is more challenging or remarkable than the other, regardless of size or complexity; but it is asked from man’s perspective as a point of reflection.