Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:11
Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly."
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.
His word: ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلأرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ ("Then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke, and He said to it and to the earth: 'Come, willingly or unwillingly.' They both said: 'We come willingly.'"). He, exalted is His mention, means: then He turned to the heaven, that is to say, then He rose toward the heaven.
And I have already previously set forth the statements of the scholars concerning that.
And His word: فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلأرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا ("and He said to it and to the earth: 'Come, willingly or unwillingly'"). He, exalted is His praise, says: Allah said to the heaven and the earth: bring forth what I have created in you. As for you, O heaven, bring forth what I have created in you of the sun, the moon, and the stars; and as for you, O earth, bring forth what I have created in you of trees, fruits, and plants, and split open so that the rivers come forth. قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ ("They both said: 'We come willingly'"): we bring forth what You have brought forth in us of creation, obedient to Your command, we are not disobedient to Your command.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Hishām related to us, he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Mūsā, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلأرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ, he said: Allah said to the heavens: bring forth My sun and My moon, and bring forth My stars; and He said to the earth: split open your rivers and bring forth your fruits. And they both said: we have given, willingly.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Aḥwal, on the authority of Ṭāwūs, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word اِئْتِيَا ("come"): give. And concerning His word قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا ("they both said: we come"): they both said: we have given.
And it is said: "atayna ṭāʾiʿīn" (in the masculine plural form), and He did not say "ṭāʾiʿatayn" (in the feminine dual form), even though the heaven and the earth are both feminine, because the nūn and the alif that form the suffix for their names in His word أَتَيْنَا correspond to the suffix of the names by which men report about themselves. For that reason He let His word طَائِعِينَ proceed according to the manner in which the report about men proceeds. And some of the scholars of Arabic said: it was addressed to the heavens and the earth and whoever is within them.
And others of them said: that was said thus because they, when they spoke, resembled the masculine beings among the children of Adam.
