Translation:
Say: Is it that you deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? 4470 And do you join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.
Say: Is it that you deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? 4470 And do you join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.
Translation:
SAY: “Would you indeed deny Him who has created the earth in two aeons? 7 And do you claim that there is any power that could rival Him, the Sustainer of all the worlds?” 8
SAY: “Would you indeed deny Him who has created the earth in two aeons? 7 And do you claim that there is any power that could rival Him, the Sustainer of all the worlds?” 8
Commentary:
7 For the above rendering of the term yawm (lit., "day"), as "aeon", see last third of note 43 on 7:54 . As in so many verses of the Qur’an which relate to cosmic events, the repeated mention of the "six aeons" during which the universe was created - "two" of which, according to the above verse, were taken by the evolution of the inorganic universe, including the earth - has a purely allegorical import: in this case, I believe, an indication that the universe did not exist "eternally" but had a definite beginning in time, and that it required a definite time-lapse to evolve to its present condition.
8 Lit., "do you give Him compeers (andad)?" For an explanation, see note 13 on 2:22 .
7 For the above rendering of the term yawm (lit., "day"), as "aeon", see last third of note 43 on 7:54 . As in so many verses of the Qur’an which relate to cosmic events, the repeated mention of the "six aeons" during which the universe was created - "two" of which, according to the above verse, were taken by the evolution of the inorganic universe, including the earth - has a purely allegorical import: in this case, I believe, an indication that the universe did not exist "eternally" but had a definite beginning in time, and that it required a definite time-lapse to evolve to its present condition.
8 Lit., "do you give Him compeers (andad)?" For an explanation, see note 13 on 2:22 .
4470 This is a difficult passage, describing the primal creation of our physical earth and the physical heavens around us. If we count the two Days mentioned in this verse, the four Days, mentioned in verse 10, and the two Days mentioned in verse 12, we get a total of eight Days, while in many passages the creation is stated to have taken place in six Days: see 7:54 , n. 1031; and 32:4, n. 3632. The Commentators understand the "four Days" in verse 10 to include the two Days in verse 9, so that the total for the universe comes to six Days. This is reasonable, because the processess described in verses 9 and 10 form really one series. In the one case it is the creation of the formless matter of the earth; in the other case it is the gradual evolution of the form of the earth, its mountains and seas, and its animal and vegetable life, with the "nourishment in due proportion", proper to each. Cf. also 15:19 -20.