Tafsir of Ar-Rahman 55:37

Meaning: it is cleft open on the Day of Resurrection. The hadith concerning the impossibility of [the heavens] being pierced is a myth, and similar to it are the things the astronomers of today say about the heaven, even though splitting is, according to their own claims, also conceivable.

Meaning: like a rose in redness. By this, it is intended to signify the well-known flower; this was stated by al-Zujaj and Qatadah. Ibn Abbas and Abu Salih said: "It becomes like the color of a rose-colored horse." The apparent meaning is that they intended it to be red. Al-Farra' said: "What is intended is the color of the rose-colored horse, which in spring inclines toward yellow, in winter toward red, and in extreme cold toward gray." Thus, the changing colors of the heaven are compared to the changing colors of horses. This is also narrated from al-Kalbi. Abu al-Jawza' said: "‘Rose-colored’ means yellow." However, the relied-upon view is that it denotes redness.

"Rose-colored" (wardatan) is in the accusative case as the predicate of kāna. In this expression, there is an eloquent simile. Ubayd ibn Umayr recited it in the nominative case (wardatun), treating kāna as a complete verb (meaning 'to exist'), implying that a rose-colored heaven comes into existence. This would be a form of tajrid (abstraction), as if it meant that a rose-colored heaven existed from or within it, although the intent is that the heaven itself is as such. It is like the saying of Qatadah ibn Maslamah: "If I survive, I shall set out on a raid toward the spoils, or a noble [person] shall die," where by "the noble," he meant himself.

This is a second predicate for kāna, or an adjective for "rose-colored," or a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the noun of kāna according to those who permit it. Meaning: like olive oil. As the Almighty said: {Like molten copper}, which is the dregs of oil. Dihān is the plural of duhn (oil), like qirāt and qirāt (carat/carats), or it is a noun for that with which one is anointed, like hizām (girdle) and udām (provisions/condiment). Based on this is the saying of the poet in describing eyes that are shedding many tears: "As if they were two water-skins of a traveler, moist with oil (dihān)." It is also a form of oil, but more specific, as it is oil considered in terms of its absorption into a thing.

The aspect of the simile is its melting, which occurs in the heaven—as it is said—due to the heat of Hell; likewise its redness. It is also said that it refers to its luster, or its beauty—meaning like mixed oils—because it takes on various colors. Ibn Abbas said: "The dihān is the red hide." From this is the saying of al-A'sha: "And a lean horse from the noble breeds, as if upon its flanks there were dihān." This is either a singular or a plural noun. Evidence for the latter is the saying: "They followed the red dihān every evening at the festival of Badr or the market of Ukaz."

The word "When" (idha) is conditional, and its response is elided. Meaning: "Then there happens what happens, of that which the power of speech cannot encompass," or "a momentous matter is found," or "you shall see that which stuns the onlookers." This is what governs idha, being derived from and caused by what precedes it regarding the sending of the flame, which is the cause for the occurrence or the witnessing of a momentous matter at that time.