خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا وَأَلْقَىٰ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ … هَٰذَا خَلْقُ ٱللَّهِ فَأَرُونِى مَاذَا خَلَقَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِۦ
"He created the heavens without pillars that you see; He cast firm mountains upon the earth lest it shake with you, and He scattered upon it every kind of living creature… This is God's creation. Show me, then, what those apart from Him have created!"
The lexicographers differ over how the sentence is to be read, and the disagreement must not be concealed:
| Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Without pillars that you could see" — that is, there are no pillars at all |
| 2 | "They have pillars, but you do not see them" — tarawnahā is not a qualifier but a separate sentence |
Both readings are found in the classical commentaries, and the grammar permits both. I impose no preference.
A note, per the method (Method): I draw from this no conclusion about modern astronomy or about gravitation. The function of the verse is plain when it is read together with the sentence that follows: it says that an order visible to the eye stands without any visible support.
رَوَٰسِى — root ر-س-و: to drop anchor, to be held fast. The root was treated at 50/7 in Qāf, and its relation to the anchoring of a ship was recorded there. I do not repeat it.
أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ — mayd: to sway, to be tossed about. The lexicographers use the word especially of seasickness and of the rolling of a ship.
بَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ — the roots ب-ث-ث and د-ب-ب were treated at 45/4 in al-Jāthiya (to spread, to scatter; a creature that moves). I do not repeat it.
This challenge occurred in almost the same words at 46/4 in al-Aḥqāf (arūnī mādhā khalaqū mina'l-arḍ), and there the two kinds of demand for proof (observation and transmission) were set out in a table. I rely on that treatment.
The difference here must be recorded: the demand comes after a list has been read out. Heavens, mountains, living creatures, rain, plants are enumerated; then the question is put — "what have you made?" That is, a scale for the comparison is set up first.