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wa-jaʿala fīhā rawāsiya min fawqihā wa-bāraka fīhā wa-qaddara fīhā ʾaqwātahā fī ʾarbaʿati ʾayyāmin sawāʾan li-s-sāʾilīna
He set in it firm mountains, [rising] above it, blessed it, and ordained in it, in four days, [various] means of sustenance, equally for all seekers.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Fussilat - Verses 10-11
10. He placed therein firm mountains from above it, and He blessed it, and measured therein its sustenance in four days sufficient for all those in need.
11. Then He rose over towards the heaven when it was smoke and said unto it and unto the earth “Come both of you willingly or unwillingly [and take shape].” They both said: “We come willingly [took shape].”
The Arabic word rawasi is the plural form of rasiya designating firm mountains. Sawa’ indicates equal and the phrase sawa’an li-sa’ilin signifies that abilities are proportionate to needs. Taw’an and karhan are used in the senses of willingly and unwillingly respectively. The verbal form istawa used with the preposition ‘ala literally indicates dominion (as in:
however juxtaposed with the preposition ila it designates intention (as in the blessed Verse in question).10 The earth and mountains are Divine Blessings including provision of sustenance, growth of plants, refinement of polluted water into pure water; sowing seeds and harvesting abundantly; excavation of mines; preservation of snow; provision of rocks for building; checking earthquakes, storms, and winds; serving as beacons for travelers. It is worthy of note that mountains serve as the anchor of the earth since some of their roots lie in water so that waves may not destroy the earth.
The blessed Verse 10 says:
that is, all types of corns, vegetables, and fruits are produced for mankind and animals. The phrase:
includes the aforesaid two days. In other words, the creation of the earth, mountains, and plants took four days. Taking the two days for the creation of the heavens mentioned in the following Verse, it could be said that the creation of the earth and heavens and the creatures between them took six days, as it is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an11:
The phrase:
indicates that creation is well-measured according to Divine Omniscience which is free from immoderation, vanity, and defect. Verse 11 says:
that is, He set order in heavenly bodies, some of which are far larger than the earth in size such that a specific place was apportioned for each of them and they may not exceed their bounds and veer off their orbits as it is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an12:
The clause:
indicates that owing to distance from the earth, it seemed like smoke, in the same manner that the air and sea water seems to be blue from afar. The blessed Verse 11 closes by saying that following the creation of the heaven and the earth in due measure, it was said unto them by the Glorious Creator that they had to obey Divine Commands willingly or unwillingly. The blessed Verse in question explicitly indicates that the heaven, the earth, and all creatures are intelligent and it is a consequence of their intelligence that they are addressed by God.
The Verse confirms the views held by Philosophers and theologians who maintain that depending on their degrees of power and weakness, all creatures are intelligent. The Command may also be taken as existential rather than legislative making a reference to Divine Omnipotence through Which existent beings come into being.
Footnotes