Tafseer of The Sun · Ash-Shams · 91:5
And [by] the sky and He who constructed it
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.
And His statement: وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا (By the heaven and Who built it). He, exalted be His praise, says: by the heaven and Who built it, that is to say: and Who created it. And His building of it is that He made it a roof for the earth.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا (By the heaven and Who built it): and the building of it is: the creating of it.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا (By the heaven and Who built it) — he said: Allah built the heaven.
And one says: وَمَا بَنَاهَا (and Who built it), and He, exalted be His praise, is the builder of it. Thus "mā" (what) was placed in the position of "man" (who), as He said: وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ (and by a father and what he begot), where "mā" was placed in the position of "man" and its meaning, that is to say: and who he begot, for it is an oath which He swore by Ādam and his offspring. And likewise: وَلا تَنْكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ (and do not marry the women whom your fathers married), and His statement: فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ (then marry what is good for you), while it is only: then marry whoever is good for you. And it is permissible to construe this in the sense of a verbal noun (maṣdar), as if He said: by the heaven and the building of it, and a father and his begetting.
