The cosmos
The heaven that is being widened
A 7th-century text describes the sky as something Allah is expanding. Until the 1920s, most scientists thought the universe was static.
- Language
- Science
- History
- Honesty
1The verse
Allah built the heaven with strength, and "We are [its] expander" (la-musi'un).
وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بَنَيۡنَٰهَا بِأَيۡيْدࣲ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ ٤٧
And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander
The Mukhtasar explains the phrase as Allah expanding the sky's edges, and also widening provision for His servants.
And the sky I made and perfected its making with strength, and I am expanding its edges and expanding for My servants by increasing provision.
As-Sa'di reads it as widening the sky's regions, and also as Allah's generosity in provision.
يقول تعالى مبينًا لقدرته العظيمة: {وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا} أي: خلقناها وأتقناها، وجعلناها سقفًا للأرض وما عليها. {بِأَيْدٍ} أي: بقوة وقدرة عظيمة {وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ} لأرجائها وأنحائها، وإنا لموسعون [أيضا] على عبادنا، بالرزق الذي ما ترك الله دابة في مهامه القفار، ولجج البحار، وأقطار العالم العلوي والسفلي، إلا وأوصل إليها من الرزق، ما يكفيها، وساق إليها من الإحسان ما يغنيها. فسبحان من عم بجوده جميع المخلوقات، وتبارك الذي وسعت رحمته جميع البريات.
2What classical scholars understood
- As-Sa'di
Reads "We are expanding" as widening the sky's regions and expanses (arja'iha wa anha'iha). He adds a second meaning, that Allah is generous in provision to His servants.
- Al-Mukhtasar fi Tafsir al-Quran (Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies)
"I am expanding its edges," and also expanding provision for My servants.
- Ibn Kathir
Says Allah made the heaven vast and raised its roof high without pillars. He describes it as vast, but does not describe a continuing expansion.
3What science has established
The universe is expanding. Distant galaxies are moving away from us, and the farther away they are, the faster they recede (Hubble's law). This is shown by the redshift of their light.
- Edwin Hubble · NASA Science
- Hubble Cosmological Redshift · NASA Science
The expanding universe replaced the older view of a static universe. Hubble's measurements, published in 1929, were central to that change.
- Edwin Hubble · NASA Science
4What was known in the 7th century
In the 7th century the educated view of the heavens came from Aristotle and Ptolemy. They taught that the heavens were a set of perfect, unchanging spheres. The idea that the universe as a whole grows larger did not exist in science. Even in the early 20th century most astronomers, Einstein included, assumed a static universe. Expansion was proposed in the 1920s and confirmed by observation from 1929 onward.
Why it is remarkable
The verse uses an active participle, musi'un ("expanders" or "wideners"), and recognised commentators such as As-Sa'di (d. 1956) and the Mukhtasar read it as widening the sky's expanses, a meaning the Arabic allows. That reading describes the heavens as being widened, not as a finished dome. At the time, the science of the day taught an unchanging cosmos.