Ash-Shuraa · Makki · ayah 5 of 53

Ash-Shuraa 42:5

تَكَادُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِن فَوْقِهِنَّ ۚ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ لِمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“The heavens almost break from above them,[1407] and the angels exalt [Allāh] with praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on earth. Unquestionably, it is Allāh who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The heavens nearly crack in awe, the angels glorify Him and plead for us, and He names Himself the Forgiving, the Merciful.

A reflection

The sound of ice cracking

"The heavens almost split apart from above them." The commentaries agree on the main cause: the greatness and majesty of the Most Merciful. The concise ones add a detail. Each heaven almost cracks over the one beneath it. One adds: despite their vastness and their height.

The Prophet ﷺ gave a glimpse of what lies behind this. He said the sky groans, and it has every right to groan. There is not a space of four fingers in it without an angel with his forehead down in prostration to Allah. Al-Tirmidhi recorded it and graded it himself ḥasan gharīb.

Picture a group walking on a glacier with a guide. One man has talked loudly all morning: his job, his car, his opinions on everything. Then, somewhere beneath them, the ice cracks. It is a single sound, like a rifle shot, rolling through the valley. Everyone freezes. The guide says calmly that it is normal. But the loud man says almost nothing for the rest of the walk. He has been reminded how small he is, standing on something vast that moves.

This ayah does that to the ego. If the heavens, in all their size, nearly split from the majesty above them, what is our swagger? The raised voice in an argument. The certainty that we are right. The need to be noticed. They look different from up there.

A fair question follows. Why would God describe creation as nearly breaking under His greatness? Does He want things to tremble? But awe is not something He takes from creation. It is simply the right response to what is real. A person who feels nothing on the edge of a canyon has not become braver. He has stopped seeing.

And look at how the ayah ends. Not with fear, but with "He is the Forgiving, the Merciful". One scholar notes the order: awe and greatness at the start, gentleness and good news at the end. The crack in the ice is not there to crush you. It is there so that you finally become quiet enough to hear what comes next.

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.