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rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi wa-mā baynahumā wa-rabbu l-mashāriqi
the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and the Lord of the easts.
— Ali Quli Qarai
37Aṣ-ṢāffātالصافاتVerse 5 of 182
Those who set the Ranks37. Aṣ-Ṣāffātالصافات
al-Ṣaffāt
The Ranged Ones
MeccanVerse 5 of 182
Surah As-Saffat – Verses 4-5
4. “Verily your God is One,”
5. “Lord of the heavens and the earth and all between them, and Lord of the rising-places (of sun).”
Among the signs and proofs of Unity is the agreement between the heaven, the earth, and other creatures of the world of existence. Therefore, in these holy verses, the Qur’an says:
Here, there arises a question that: after mentioning the words heavens and the earth and what is between them, what is the need of mentioning ‘rising-places (of sun)’ which is also a part of them? By noting to one point, the answer to this question will be made clear. The Qur’anic term /mašariq/ (rising-places (of sun)) whether points to the rising-places of the sun during the year, or the rising-places of different stars in the sky, they have a particular program and order that their system, besides the system of the heavens and the earth, is the sign of the infinite Power and Knowledge of their Creator and their Administrator.
During the year, everyday the sun rises from a point in the sky which is different from the points where it rises the previous day and the next day, and the distance between these points is so exact and regular that they do not decrease or increase even one thousandth of a second during a year and for ever, and the order of the rising-places of the sun has been the same in thousands of thousands years. This very order is also seen in the rising and setting of other stars, too.
Moreover, if the sun did not gradually pave this path, the different blessings that are produced because of four seasons of the year would not exist. This is itself another sign upon the greatness and administration of Allah. Besides, one of the other meanings of /mašariq/ is that for the earth being globular, every point of it, comparing another point, is counted east or west. And, thus, the above verse attracts our attention to the globular shape of the earth and its different places of east and west.
The verse is concluded as follows: