Luqman (Luqman)

10. “He created the heavens without any pillars as you see them; and He cast mountains on the earth lest it shakes with you, and He spread in it of every kinds of animals; and We sent down water from the heaven, then We caused to grow therein (vegetables) of every noble kind in pairs.”

In this verse a few examples of the miracles of the Qur’an, belonging to the time when man could not even imagine them, are clearly pointed out. One of them is the unseen pillars of the settlement of the planets and stars in the sky, i.e., the gravity power and centrifugal force, the two forces that are the secret of the rotation of the globes in their orbits.

Another miracle is pointing to the settlement of the mountains for the protection of the earth from being shaken and, also, pointing to the law of conjugality in plants; so, the verse says:

“He created the heavens without any pillars as you see them…”

The Arabic word /‘amad/ which is the plural form of /‘amud/ in the sense of ‘pillar’, and qualifying it with the term /taraunaha/ (as you see them) is an evidence that heavens have not some visible pillars.

The concept of this sentence is that the heavens do have some pillars but they are not visible. As it was formerly pointed out in the commentary of Surah Ar-Ra‘d, this meaning is a smooth indication to the law of polarization, which like a very strong pillar, but not visible, practically holds the heavenly planets in their proper places.

This meaning has been stipulated in the tradition that Hussayn-ibn-Khalid has narrated from Imam Ali-ibn-Musar-Rida (as), who said:

“Glory be to Allah, did Allah (s.w.t.) not say: ‘Without any pillars as you see them’?”

The addressee answered positively and he (as) said:

“There are some pillars but you do not see them.”

However, the above mentioned holy sentence is one of the scientific miracles of the Qur’an the explanation of which has been stated in Surah Ar-Ra‘d, No. 13, verse 2.

Then the Qur’an refers to the philosophy of the creation of mountains.

It says:

“…and He cast mountains on the earth lest it shakes with you…”

This verse, some like of which are found in the Qur’an, shows that mountains are some means of stability for the earth. This fact, however, has also been scientifically proved today that, in numerous respects, mountains are the cause of stability of the earth:

In this respect that their roots are jointed together and, like strong armour, protect the earth against the pressures originated from the inner heat of it. If they were not, the destructive earth-quakes were so abundant that they might not let man live on it.

And in this respect that this strong cover of the earth resists against the gravity of the moon and that of the sun in a way that if the mountains did not exist a great tide could come into being over the ground that was not unlike the flow and ebb of the seas and could make life impossible for man.

And in this respect that it breaks the pressure of storms and decreases the contact of the surrounding air of the earth, at the time of its rotation, to the least, and if they did not exist the surface of the earth, like dry salt deserts, would be the field of fatal winds and destructive storms.

Now that the bounty of calmness of the heavens by their unseen pillars and the calmness of the earth by mountains have been provided, there come the turn of the creation of living creatures and their calmness that they can step in the field of life in a calm environment.

The verse continues saying:

“…and He spread in it of every kinds of animals…”

The application of the Qur’anic phrase /minkullidabbah/ is an indication to the variety of life and living in different features among which are the very small living creatures through our environment that can not be ordinarily seen with normal eyes, to the gigantic animals whose greatness causes man to feel horror.

Also, each group of moving creatures are in different colours and in completely various features. Those animals that live by water and those that live by air, birds, creepers, kinds of insects and the like of them have different worlds for themselves and they reflect the subject of life in hundreds of thousand forms.

But it is evident that these moving creatures need both water and food, then through next sentences the Qur’an points to these two things.

It says:

“…and We sent down water from the heaven, then We caused to grow therein (vegetables) of every noble kind in pairs.”

Thus, the verse refers to the main means of the life of all creatures specially man, which is water and plants. There is a table stretched all over the earth with various foods. That, from the point of creation, each of them is a proof upon the greatness and power of Allah.

It is noteworthy that in stating the creation of the first three items, the Arabic verbs are said in the form of third person singular, but when it speaks about the descent of rain and the growth of vegetables, the Arabic verbs are stated in plural form, and it says:

“…We sent down water from the heaven, then We caused to grow therein (vegetable)…”

This itself is one of the arts of eloquence that at the time of mentioning different affairs the meanings are stated in two or more various forms so that the listener feels no fatigue. Moreover, this style of statement shows that the descent of rain and the growth of plants have been particularly regarded.

This verse points to the conjugality in the world of plants once more, and this is also one of scientific miracles of the Qur’an, because at that time the conjugality (the existence of male and female) in the world of plants had not been vastly proved, and the Qur’an revealed it.¹

By the way, the Arabic word /karim/ (noble) used as an attribute for the pairs of plants, points to the kinds of merits that exist in them.