Tafsir of Ash-Shura 42:29

{And what He has dispersed} It is permissible for it to be in the nominative case (marfu‘) or the genitive case (majrur), depending on whether it is linked to the genitive (the heavens and the earth) or the noun to which it is linked (the signs).

If you ask: How is it permissible to say {in both of them of living creatures} when living creatures are only on the earth?

I say: It is permissible to attribute a thing to the entirety of what is mentioned, even if it is only associated with a part of it. Just as it is said: "Among the Banu Tamim is a brilliant poet or a heroic warrior," even though he is only from one of their clans or sub-tribes. Or, "The Banu so-and-so did such-and-such," when only a few of them did it. From this is His saying, the Exalted: {From both of them emerge the pearl and the coral} (Ar-Rahman: 22), even though they only emerge from the salt water.

It is also possible that the angels—peace be upon them—have a way of walking alongside their flight, so they are described as "creeping" (dabeeb) just as humans are described by it. It is not far-fetched that He created in the heavens animals that walk upon them as humans walk upon the earth. Glory be to the One who created what we know and what we do not know of the varieties of creation.

{When (idha)} It enters upon the present tense (mudari‘) just as it enters upon the past tense. God, the Exalted, said: {And the night when it covers} (Al-Layl: 1), and {when He wills} (idha yasha’). The poet said: And whenever I wish, I send forth from it At the end of the night, one who is active and startled.

{And whatever strikes you of disaster, it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much. And you will not cause failure [to God] upon the earth, and you have not besides God any protector or helper.}