Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:30

"Have those who disbelieved not seen..."

It is recited as alam yaraw (have they not seen) without the waw.

Ratqan (closed/joined) is recited with a fatha on the ta’. Both are in the position of the object, like al-khalq (creation) and al-naqd (destruction); meaning: they were both joined together.

If you ask: Ratq is a verbal noun (masdar), so how can it function in the place of martuqatayn (two joined things)? I say: It is based on the assumption of a described noun, meaning: "They were a single, joined thing."

The meaning is that the heaven was stuck to the earth with no space between them, or the heavens were joined together, as were the earths, with no gaps between them. Then Allah split them (fataqaha) and created space between them.

It is also said: We split them with rain and vegetation after they were solid.

The reason it says kanata (they two were) instead of kunna (they [feminine plural] were) is that it refers to the collective group of heavens and the collective group of earths. This is similar to the saying: liqahan sawdawan (two black groups), meaning two collectives. The pronoun is treated the same as the explicit noun.

If you ask: When did they see them joined, such that they are being reminded of it? I say: There are two views:

1. It is mentioned in the Qur’an, which is a miracle in itself, so it stands in the place of something seen and witnessed.
2. Both the joining of the earth and sky and their separation are rationally possible; therefore, their separation—rather than their joining—requires a specifier, which is the Eternal One, Glory be to Him.

"And We made..." This verb can take one or two objects.

• If it takes one: The meaning is "We created every living thing from water," like His saying: "And Allah has created every moving creature from water" (An-Nur: 45). Or, it is as if we created it from water due to its extreme need for it, its love for it, and its inability to endure without it, like His saying: "Man was created of haste" (Al-Anbiya: 37).
• If it takes two: The meaning is "We made every living thing to be, by means of water, something that cannot exist without it."

The min (from/by) here is like the min in the Prophet’s saying: "I am not of dad (play), nor is dad of me." It is also recited as hayyan (living), which is the second object, and the prepositional phrase is laghw (grammatically extraneous).

"And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein broad paths [as] roads that they might be guided. And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away."