Tafsir of An-Nazi'at 79:27

"Are you more difficult to create" The address is directed at those who deny the Resurrection. It means: Are you more difficult to create and bring into existence, "or the heaven"?

"He built it" He then explained how He created it, saying: "He built it."

"He raised its canopy" He explained the construction, saying: "He raised its canopy," meaning He made the extent of its height in the direction of the zenith vast and elevated—a journey of five hundred years.

"And He fashioned it" He made it balanced, smooth, without discrepancy or fissures. Or, He perfected it with what He knew it would be completed by and set it right, from the expression: "So-and-so set such-and-such's affair in order."

"He darkened its night" The night became dark (ghatasha), and Allah made it dark (aghtashahu), just as you say: "It became dark (zalama)" and "He made it dark (azlamahu)." It is also said: "The night became dark (aghtasha)," just as it is said: "It became dark (azlama)."

"And brought out its morning" He brought forth the light of its sun. This is indicated by His saying: "By the sun and its morning (duha)" (Ash-Shams: 1), meaning its light. Their saying "the time of duha" refers to the time when the sun rises and its authority is established. The night and the sun are attributed to the heaven because the night is its shadow, and the sun is the lamp burning in its atmosphere.

"Its water" Its springs that gush forth with water.

"And its pasture" Its grazing land; it is originally the place of grazing.

"And the earth, after that, He spread" The words "the earth" and "the mountains" are in the accusative case due to an implied verb (daha - spread, and arsa - anchored), which is an ellipsis based on the condition of subsequent explanation. Al-Hasan read them in the nominative case as an ibtida' (starting a new sentence).

If you ask: Why was the conjunction particle not placed before "brought out" (akhraja)? I say: There are two aspects:

1. The meaning of "He spread it" is that He flattened and prepared it for habitation, then explained this preparation by mentioning what is necessary for habitation to be possible—such as organizing food and drink, the possibility of settling upon it, and finding tranquility through the bringing forth of water and pasture, and the anchoring of mountains to serve as pegs for it so that it and those upon it remain stable.
2. "Brought out" is a circumstantial clause (hal) with an implied "qad," as in His saying: "Or they come to you, their chests constricted" (An-Nisa: 90).

By "its pasture," He meant what humans and livestock eat. Grazing is metaphorically applied to humans, just as "frolicking" (rat') is used in the saying: "We frolic and play" (Yusuf: 12). It was also read as "we graze" (narta') from ra'y. For this reason, it is said that Allah, Glory be to Him, by mentioning water and pasture, indicated everything that is benefited from and enjoyed, which comes out of the earth—even salt, because it comes from water.

"As a provision for you" He did that to provide for you.

"And for your livestock" Because the benefit of that preparation reaches them and their livestock.

"But when the Greatest Catastrophe comes—the Day when man will remember what he strove for, and Hellfire will be exposed for all who see."