Ash-Shams · Makki · ayah 5 of 15

Ash-Shams 91:5

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا

“And [by] the sky and He who constructed it”

Saheeh International

Essence

The oaths now name the Maker beside His work: whatever is above you is His building, and He is greater than its roof.

A reflection

Whatever is above you

The Arabs called the sky samāʾ from a root meaning height. Whatever was above you was samāʾ: a roof, a cloud, the vault of heaven. And the sky is 'built'. For the first hearers a building was first a tent: poles set, hides stretched, a roof raised over the desert floor. One commentary explains the building here simply: He made it a ceiling for the earth.

Notice what changes at this oath. Sun, moon, day and night were sworn by with no maker named. Now, for the first time, the Maker stands beside His work: the sky, and what built it. The eye is taken up to the roof, and then past it.

Picture an office tower where rank is measured in floors. The interns work on two. The directors are on fourteen. The chairman has the top floor and a lift that stops only there. People speak of 'going up' to see him. Height has become worth.

We are always trying to get above: above our rivals, our siblings, last year's version of ourselves. The ayah lifts the eye past every ceiling we have climbed to. Above the top floor is the sky. Above the sky is the One who built it.

Does Allah name Himself here because He wants the credit? The Quran says the credit is already being given. 'The seven heavens and the earth and all within them glorify Him' (17:44). The sky is not waiting for us to notice. We are invited to join what it is already doing. That joining lowers the ego, and it lifts the one who joins.

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.