Luqman · Makki · ayah 10 of 34

Luqman 31:10

خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا ۖ وَأَلْقَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ ۚ وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَنۢبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ

“He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.”

Saheeh International

Essence

A sky with no pillars you can see, an earth held still, creatures loosed across it, rain sent down: all you stand on was placed.

A reflection

A roof with no posts

Every roof you have ever stood under rests on something. The Word Dictionary pictures the root of ʿamad with the tent pole, the ʿamūd, and the ʿimād, whatever a thing leans on. A linguistic commentary adds the builder's verb: ʿammadtu al-ḥāʾiṭ, I propped the wall.

Now look up. Bi-ghayri ʿamadin tarawnahā: without pillars that you see. The early authorities read this in two ways. Some said there are no pillars at all, as you can see for yourselves. Others said there are pillars, but you cannot see them. A linguistic commentary names those unseen pillars: His power, holding the heavens in place. Either way, the sky is upheld by nothing a human hand could reach.

Another commentary hears an argument in tarawnahā, you see them. It is like saying to a friend: here I stand, without sword or spear, as you can see. The evidence is your own eyes, every day you have lived.

Picture an airport terminal admired for its roof. It seems to float, a white wave above the crowds. Look longer and you find the slim steel columns, painted the colour of the sky so that you will not notice them. Human brilliance at its height still needs posts. It only hides them.

Here the ego has something to face. We put our names on buildings and sign the plans. Yet nothing we make stays up without leaning on something. The heavens above us lean on nothing we can see, and have not slipped.

Does Allah list His works because He needs us to be impressed? No; He is free of all need (35:15). The ayah is for us. It is there so that the one who boasts of what he built looks up, and quietly puts his pen down.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.