Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:2
It is Allah who erected the heavens without pillars that you [can] see; then He established Himself above the Throne and made subject the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. He arranges [each] matter; He details the signs that you may, of the meeting with your Lord, be certain.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: Allah, O Muḥammad, is the One who has raised up the seven heavens without pillars that you (can) see, and He has made them a vaulted roof above the earth.
The word "al-ʿamad" (pillars) is the plural of "ʿamūd," which denotes the supports and everything that holds up a structure, as al-Nābigha said: "And restrain the jinn, for I have given them leave — they build Tadmur with flat rock-slabs and pillars." The plural of "ʿamūd" is "ʿamad," just as the plural of "adīm" (leather) is "adam." If one forms the plural with ḍamma — "ʿumud" — that too is permissible, just as one says "rusul" from "rasūl" (messenger), and "shukur" from "shakūr" (grateful).
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His saying: رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا (He has raised up the heavens without pillars that you see).
Some said: the meaning is: Allah, who has raised up the heavens with pillars that you do not see.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20051 — Aḥmad ibn Hishām related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: "I said to Ibn ʿAbbās: Someone claims that it — that is, the heaven — rests upon pillars." He answered: "Read the verse: بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — that means: which you do not see."
20052 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — the like of it.
20053 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — he said: "with pillars that you do not see."
20054 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — he said: "those (pillars) you do not see."
20055 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ — he said: "pillars [that you do not see]."
20056 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of it.
20057 — [...] he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Qatāda, concerning his saying: اللَّهُ الَّذِي رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — Qatāda said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "with pillars, but you do not see them."
20058 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — he said: "What do you know of it? Perhaps it rests upon pillars that you do not see."
Whoever interprets it in this manner follows the method of the Arabs of shifting the negation from the end of a sentence to its beginning, as the poet said: "And I do not see her ceasing to be unjust — bringing me a calamity each time and tearing open her wound." By this he means: "I see that she does not cease to be unjust" — he shifted the negation forward from its proper position at "cease." And as another poet said: "When in timeless time the state of a man pleases you — then leave him and entrust his fate to the nights — they come upon whatever good he possesses, even though he possesses what the people do not reckon as miserly." By this he means: "even though he possesses what the people reckon as miserly."
And others said: it is raised up without pillars.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20059 — Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to us, saying: Ādam informed us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Iyās ibn Muʿāwiya, concerning his saying: رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — he said: "The heaven is vaulted like a dome over the earth, like a tent-dome."
20060 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his saying: بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — he said: "He raised it up without pillars."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct view in this matter is to say what Allah the Exalted has said: اللَّهُ الَّذِي رَفَعَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا — so it is raised up without pillars that we see, just as our Lord, exalted be His praise, has said. There is no report stating otherwise, and there is no proof requiring acceptance of any other view.
As for His saying ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ (then He rose over the Throne): this means that He rose above it.
We have previously set forth the meaning of al-istiwāʾ (rising), as well as the disagreements concerning it and what the correct view therein is, together with the relevant proofs — in a manner that is sufficient and makes repetition here unnecessary.
And His saying وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ (and He has subjected the sun and the moon): this means that He set the sun and the moon moving in the heaven and subjected them therein for the benefit of the interests of His creation, and made them serviceable to their needs, so that through their circuit they might know the number of years and the reckoning, and thereby distinguish between night and day.
And His saying كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى (each runs to a fixed term): The Exalted says: each of them moves in the heaven to a fixed term — that is, to a known time, namely until the world perishes and the Day of Resurrection arrives, on which the sun is rolled up, the moon is eclipsed, and the stars fade.
This is elided in the sentence, because those who speak the language in which the Qurʾān was sent down understand its meaning, and because "kull" (each) is necessarily connected to that to which it relates.
In accordance with what we have said concerning His saying لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى, the exegetes also said.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20061 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى — he said: "the world (that is, its end)."
And His saying يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ (He directs the affair): The Exalted says by this: Allah, who has raised up the heavens without pillars that you see, disposes of all the affairs of the world and the hereafter and directs all of this alone, without any partner, helper, or assistant — exalted be He.
In accordance with what we have said, the exegetes also said.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20062 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ — "He disposes of it alone."
20063 — [...] he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of it.
20064 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of it.
And His saying يُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ (He distinguishes the signs): this means: your Lord distinguishes for you the signs of His Book and makes them clear to you — as a proof against you, O people — لَعَلَّكُم بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّكُمْ تُوقِنُونَ (that you may be certain of the meeting with your Lord): that is, that you may be certain that you will meet Allah and return to Him, and that you may hold His promise and His warning to be true, recoil from the worship of idols and gods, and devote worship exclusively to Him when you know that with certainty.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes also said.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20065 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: لَعَلَّكُم بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّكُمْ تُوقِنُونَ — "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, sent down His Book and sent His messengers only that we might believe in His promise and be certain that we will meet Him."
