a single heaven, then He clove it asunder and made it seven heavens in two days—on Thursday and Friday, and Friday was only named Friday because the creation of the heavens and the earth was gathered in it—"and revealed in every heaven its command." He said: He created in every heaven its creation of angels and the creation within it, of oceans, mountains of hail, and what is not known. Then He adorned the lowest heaven with stars, making them an adornment and a protection, protected from the devils. When He finished creating what He wished, He established Himself over the Throne. That is when He says: (He created the heavens and the earth in six days) [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 54]. And He says: (They were joined together, then We clove them asunder) (1) [Surah al-Anbiyāʾ: 30].
592- And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā narrated to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, regarding His statement: "It is He who created for you all that is on the earth, then He turned to the heaven." He said: He created the earth before the heaven, so when He created the earth, smoke billowed from it. That is when He says: "Then He turned to the heaven and fashioned them into seven heavens." He said: Some of them above others, and seven earths, some of them below others (2).
Notes
- (1) Report 591: In Ibn Kathīr (1/123), al-Durr al-Manthūr (1/42–43), and al-Shawkānī (1/48). Discussion on this chain of transmission has preceded, and my brother Al-Sayyid Aḥmad Shākir thoroughly investigated it in its place (see Report 168). Al-Ṭabarī's statement has also preceded when he addressed this chain of transmission in Narration 465 (p. 353): "If that is authentic—and I do not know it to be authentic, as I am doubtful about its chain of transmission...". Al-Ṭabarī proceeded in his exegesis to narrate what he did not deem authentic in its chain of transmission, knowing that the people of knowledge in those days undertook the matter of the chain of transmission and possessed discernment in it, accepting nothing until scrutinizing its chain of transmission. If you ask: Why does al-Ṭabarī cite such a report whose chain of transmission he doubts? The answer is: He did not cite it to use its contents as evidence, but cited it for consideration of a single meaning, which is that Allah, Glorified be He, raised the ceiling of the seven heavens from smoke, then spread out the earth and anchored it with mountains, then turned to the heaven while it was smoke, and perfected them into seven, and revealed in each heaven its command. There is no harm in taking consideration from such a narration, because the meaning he intended is the apparent and explicit sense of the Qurʾān, even if the report itself was among what some Companions received from the Children of Israel, not from the Messenger of Allah, Peace and blessings of God be upon him. There is no proof except in what Allah revealed in His Book, or in what He revealed to His Prophet among that whose chain of transmission to him is authentic. And whatever is authentic from the Messenger of Allah, Peace and blessings of God be upon him, we accept without appointing anyone as a judge over it, for his statement is the supreme authority over the statements of men in truth.
- (2) Narration 592: In Ibn Kathīr (1/124), al-Durr al-Manthūr (1/42), and al-Shawkānī (1/48).
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