Fussilat: (9) Say, do you indeed disbelieve...

"Say, do you indeed disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days..." to the end of the verses.

There is much discourse regarding this, some of which is not widely known. We shall begin with what is well-known, and upon its completion, we shall mention the rest. We say: This is a denial and a condemnation of their disbelief. The lam (in latakfuruna) is either for the emphasis of the denial—the interrogative hamza having been placed before it due to its requirement for priority, not for the denial of the emphasis itself—or it is to signal that their disbelief is so far removed from reason that rational beings would deny its occurrence, thus requiring emphasis.

He, may He be glorified, linked their disbelief to the relative pronoun (the One who...) to magnify His status and to stress the enormity of their disbelief in Him, Almighty and Exalted. The apparent meaning is that what is intended by "the earth" is the well-known physical body. It has been said: Perhaps what is intended by it is that which is in the lower direction of dense and subtle substances—earth, water, and air—used metaphorically through its implied meaning, as has been suggested, due to the evidence of contrast. It was interpreted this way so that the speech would not be devoid of addressing the duration of the creation of everything besides the earth. Regarding His creating it in two days, it means that He, may He be glorified, created a common origin for it, then created for it forms through which it became diversified into types.

"Day," according to the popular understanding, is an expression for the duration of the sun being above the horizon. It is intended here as time in the absolute sense, for such a concept is inconceivable before the creation of the heaven, the stars, and the earth itself. Furthermore, that time may be the equivalent of the well-known day, or it may be less or more than it; "less" is more suitable to the context. In any case, it is apparent that the "two days" are adverbials of time for the creation of the earth in its entirety, without distribution.

Some eminent scholars said: He, Exalted is He, created its origin and substance in one day, and its forms and layers in another. It is stated in Irshad al-'Aql al-Salim: The intention by the "creation of the earth" is the decreeing of its existence, meaning He judged that it would exist in two days, similar to His saying, "Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created him from dust; then He said to him, 'Be,' and he was."

Their disbelief in Him, Exalted is He, refers to their heresy regarding His Essence and Attributes, Almighty and Exalted, and their departure from the truth incumbent upon them toward Him, Glorified be His Majesty, regarding His Oneness and the belief in what befits His Essence and Attributes. They do not deem Him, Exalted is He, above the attributes of physical bodies, nor do they affirm for Him the perfect power and the qualities befitting Him, Glorified be His Majesty. They do not acknowledge His sending of messengers or His resurrection of the dead, as if they imagine that He, Exalted is He, created servants in vain and left them without purpose.

His saying, "And you attribute to Him equals," is a conjunction to "disbelieve," included with it in the ruling of denial and rebuke. To treat it as a circumstantial clause for the pronoun in "created" is of questionable validity. The plural "equals" (andad) is used in consideration of what is the case, not that the focus of the denial is the plurality—meaning, you attribute to Him equals and peers from among the angels, jinn, and others, while it is impossible that He, Exalted is He, should have even a single equal.

"That" is a reference to the aforementioned One (the relative pronoun), in consideration of His being described by what is contained within the relative clause. The distance implied by the demonstrative, despite the close mention of the referent, is to signal the remoteness of His rank in greatness. The singular kaf is used because the intention is not to specify the addressees. It is the subject, and its predicate is what follows; that is, "That One of Great Status, who did what was mentioned in a short duration, is the Lord of the worlds."

That is, the Creator of all existents and their Sustainer, not the earth alone; so how can it be imagined that any of His creations could be an equal to Him, Almighty and Exalted?