وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ {21/33}
“God is the One Who created the night, the day, the sun and the moon. And each one is traveling in an orbit with its motion”.
These movements are expressed in the Qur’an with the word Yasbahoon. The primitive meanings of the word Yasbahooncarry the idea of movement which comes from any moving body for example, the movement of legs when one runs or swimming action in the water. The sequence of day and night is expressed in the Qur’an in terms that are highly significant nowadays. The Qur’an uses the verb kawwara in Verse 5, Chapter 39 az-Zumar to describe the way the night ‘winds’ or ‘coils’ itself around the day and the day around the night :
خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِ وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجْرِي لِأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى أَلَا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفَّارُ 39/5
“He coils the night upon the day and the day upon the night.”
The original meaning of the verb kawwara is to coil a turban around the head. This is a totally valid comparison; yet at the time the Qur’an was revealed, the astronomical data necessary to make this comparison were unknown.
The evolution of heavens and notions of a settled place for the sun are also mentioned in the Qur’an. All these notions are in perfect agreement with the well established modern ideas. More than that, the Qur’an seems to have alluded to the expansion of the earth. The conquest of space is also mentioned in the Qur’an. This has been undertaken thanks to remarkable technological progress and has resulted in man’s journey to the moon. This surely springs to mind when we read in Verse 33, Chapter 55 Ar-Rahmaan :
يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَن تَنفُذُوا مِنْ أَقْطَارِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ فَانفُذُوا لَا تَنفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلْطَانٍ 55/33
“O assembly of men and jinn if you can penetrate the reigns of heavens and earth, than penetrate them and you can not penetrate them except with the power. This power comes from the Almighty.”
The use of word Sultan is an invitation to recognize God’s blessing on man.
Let us now come back to earth and among many verses let us quote the verses of the Qur’an concerning the mountains. Modern geography has told us the phenomena of folding which form the mountain ranges. The stability of mountains is linked with phenomena since the folds provide foundation for the reliefs that constituted the mountains. In Verses 6/7 Chapter 78 An Naba you find:
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ مِهَادًا {78/6} وَالْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا {78/7} وَخَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا {78/8}
“Have We not made the earth an expanse and the mountains stakes?”
These “stakes” which are put into the ground like those who are used to anchor the tents, are deep foundations of geological folds. The same harmony with modern scientific knowledge is noticed in the case of numerous reflections in the Qur’an concerning with the water cycle in the nature. This is a topic which is very well known today and the verses of the Qur’an referring to it seems to express ideas which are now totally self evident. But if we consider the ideas prevalent at the time of the revelation - the Qur’an fourteen centuries ago, these ideas (in the Qur’an about the water cycle appear to be philosophical and superstitious than facts. But now those, who study and observe these ideas and similar other topics as well, admit that any wrong notion on such ancient ideas never appeared in the Qur’an. Let us quote Verse 21, Chapter 39 Az Zumar:
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَسَلَكَهُ يَنَابِيعَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُ بِهِ زَرْعًا مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ حُطَامًا إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِأُوْلِي الْأَلْبَابِ {39/21}
“God sends down water from the sky and leads it through the ground and then He causes crops of different colors to grow.”