Surah 13. Ar-Ra'd, Ayah 2

I.e., "so that you might realize that He who has created the universe and governs all that exists is equally able to resurrect the dead, and to judge you in the life to come in accordance with what you did when you were alive on earth".

For an explanation of this phrase, see surah {7}, note [43]. As regards the "raising of the heavens without any supports" visible to man, it should be borne in mind that the noun sama' denotes, primarily, "something that is above [another thing]", and is used - mostly in its plural form samawat - to describe (a) the visible skies (as well as, occasionally, the clouds), (b) the cosmic space in which the stars, the solar systems (including our own) and the galaxies pursue their course. and (c) the abstract concept of the forces emanating from God (since He is, in the metonymical sense of this word, "above" all that exists]. To my mind, it is the second of these three meanings of samawat to which the above verse refers: namely, to the spatial universe in which all aggregations of matter - be they planets, stars, nebulae or galaxies - are, as it were, "suspended" in space within a system of unceasing motion determined by centrifugal forces and mutual, gravitational attraction.

This may refer either to the end of the world as we know it - thus indicating the finality of all creation - or, according to 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by Baghawi and Razi), to the "mansions" or stages through which the sun and the moon, like all other celestial bodies, move in time as well as in space.

Should we construe the clause "that ye can see" to refer to "pillars" or "to the heavens"? Either is admissible, but I prefer the former. The heavens are supported on no pillars that we can see. What we see is the blue vault of heaven, but there are invisible forces or conditions created by Allah, which should impress us with His power and glory.

Cf. x. 3, and n. 1386. We must not think that anything came into being by itself or carries out its functions by itself. Allah is the Creator from Whom everything has its life and being and through Whom everything is maintained and supported, even though fixed laws are established for its regulation and government. The "term appointed" limits the duration of their functioning: its ultimate return is to Allah, as its beginning proceeded from Allah.

Cf. x. 31, n. 1425. Where the laws of nature are fixed, and everything runs according to its appointed course, the government and regulation behind it is still that of Allah. Where there is limited free will as in man, yet the ultimate source of man's faculties is Allah. Allah cares for His creatures. He does not, as in the idea of polytheistic Greece, sit apart on Olympus, careless of His creatures.

One manifestation of His caring for His creatures, even where a limited amount of free-will is granted for their development, is that He is careful to explain His Signs both in nature and in express and detailed revelation through His Messengers, lest man should have any doubts whether he has to return ultimately to his Lord and account for all his actions during the "term appointed," when he was given some initiative by way of trial and preparation. If man attends carefully to the Signs, he should have no doubt whatever.