Ash-Shura: (29) And among His signs is the creation...

And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth in the state in which they exist of wondrous craftsmanship. For they, by their very essence and attributes, indicate His lofty affairs—the Exalted—and anyone possessing the slightest degree of fairness and perception concludes with certainty the impossibility of their originating from nature, which lacks perception.

And whatever He has dispersed within them is a conjunction linked to "the heavens," meaning: and among His signs is the creation of that which He has dispersed. Or, it is a conjunction linked to "creation," meaning: and among His signs is that which He has dispersed.

"What" (ma) can be understood as a relative pronoun or a verbal noun (masdariyyah), though the relative pronoun is more evident. There is no need, based on that, to assume a missing noun (mudaf), meaning "the creation of that which He dispersed," contrary to what Abu Hayyan asserted.

Of moving creatures (dabbah) means: an animal that possesses movement and crawling. The apparent meaning of the verse is that such creatures exist in the heavens as well as on the earth. Mujahid held this view, and he interpreted "the moving creature" as humans and angels. It is permissible for angels to have movement along with the [other] creatures. Ibn al-Munir objected to this, arguing that applying the term "moving creature" (dabbah) to humans is far-fetched in linguistic usage, let alone to angels. He claimed that the correct view is that these creatures exist on the earth and nowhere else, and that "what" (ma) in one of the two things is sufficient to prove that it exists "in them" generally. Thus, the verse follows the style of "From both of them emerge pearl and coral," citing as evidence the Almighty’s saying in Al-Baqarah: "And dispersed therein from every moving creature," claiming that it indicates the exclusivity of these creatures to the earth, as the context of elongation (itnab) would have required mentioning the heavens if they were included, so as not to rely on the concept of a "reversed implication" (mafhum al-laqab) which the majority do not accept.

The response to this is that the verse in Al-Baqarah was addressed to the unlearned, the common understanding, the seeker of guidance, and the stubborn; thus, it included what is known to all, which is the dispersing of creatures on the earth. As for this [verse in Ash-Shura], it is presented in a concise manner that repeats what has been stated in the Quran—especially in this Surah—regarding the perfection of His power over every possible thing. Therefore, it is said: "And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and whatever He has dispersed within them," preferring it over the word "creation" to indicate the multiplication that points to the perfection of power. By His saying "of moving creatures," He clarified the generalization and the domination of non-rational beings in both the heavenly and earthly realms, confirming their status as created beings. Indeed, it has been established in authentic hadiths what indicates the existence of moving creatures in the heavens, such as the mounts of the people of Paradise and others, as well as what indicates the existence of angels like the 'awa'il (large cattle-like beings). In fact, it is not improbable that there are animals and creatures of various forms and states in every heaven that we do not know of, and nothing of them has been mentioned in the reports. The Almighty has said: "And He creates that which you do not know." Today, astronomers perceive through their telescopes creatures in the lunar sphere, though they have not verified their nature due to the deficiency in their instruments regarding the signs as they claim. It is possible these are clouds other than the moon, and denying this is not something known from the religion by necessity, so asserting it causes no harm.

It has also been said: The intended meaning by "the heavens" is the directions of height aligned with the climes, for instance. Within the atmosphere of every clime—nay, every town, nay, every piece of earth—there are animals whose vastness none can count except the Almighty; some are sensed without the aid of instruments, and some with their aid. It has also been said: The meaning is the clouds, and they contain animals of various kinds. All of this is in addition to the fact that one does not need to resort to what many have gone to, which is that "moving creature" (dabbah) refers to a living being metaphorically—either by using the limited for the absolute, or applying a thing to its consequence, or the effect to its cause—because life is the cause of movement, even if the creature is not the cause of life. This would be a derived metaphorical usage, and the need for such is a deviation from the apparent meaning, which is not done unless there is proof of the contrary. Where is such proof? Rather, the proof stands for the existence of moving creatures in the heavens just as they exist on the earth.

And He, for their gathering—meaning: their assembly after the Resurrection for the reckoning—when He wills that, is competent.

Perfect in power, complete in it. "When" (idha) is linked to what precedes it, not to "competent," because what is restricted by the will is His gathering—the Exalted—not His power. Just as "idha" enters upon the past tense, it also enters upon the present tense; an example of this is the saying: "And when I will, I send forth from it in the last of the night, energetic and alarmed." The author of Al-Kashshaf claimed that one may differentiate between idha and idha ma, but it is apparent that this is not the place for such. Al-Khafaji has explicitly stated that there is no difference and deemed the claim of such a distinction an illusion. He also stated that it enters upon both verb types, whether it is adverbial or conditional. At-Tibi qualified this by saying it applies when it carries the meaning of time, as is the case here. Regarding the pronoun in "gathering them" (jam'ihim), it is said to refer to the heavens, the earth, and what is within them, by way of domination (taghlib), which is as you can see. It is also said: It refers to the "moving creatures" understood from the preceding context. The pronoun for rational beings is used by way of domination, which is appropriate because the gathering is for the purpose of reckoning. It is also said: It refers to humans, as is known from the context, and this is perhaps the most appropriate.