Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | THE MESSAGE SPELT OUT“He then turned to heaven and fashioned it into seven heavens.” (Verse 29) This canonly be interpreted in the sense that God has total control over everything, and withHim rests the will and decision of creating and shaping things. § There is no need todwell on the precise meaning, shape or dimensions of the ‘seven heavens’ referred tohere. It is sufficient to point out the overall import of the text as outlined above.“He has knowledge of all things.” (Verse 29) He is the Creator of everything and hascontrol over all things. God’s omniscience and omnipotence are strong incentives forman to believe in Him, acknowledge His favours and worship Him alone.This brings us to the end of the first section of the sūrah, which has focused mainlyon belief in God and on urging mankind to join the ranks of God-fearing believers.§ Here, the translator uses the expression ‘turned to heaven’ for the Arabic verb Istawā. For furtherdiscussion on the Istiwā’ attribute, please refer to section 1.1 of A Critique of ‘In the Shade of the Qur’ān.’46