ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضَ قَرَارًۭا وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بِنَآءًۭ وَصَوَّرَكُمْ فَأَحْسَنَ صُوَرَكُمْ وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ ۖ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
It is Allah who made for you the earth a place of settlement and the sky a ceiling and formed you and perfected your forms and provided you with good things. That is Allah, your Lord; then blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Introduction
This is āyah 64 of Sūrat Ghafir (The Forgiver), the 60th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 24. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 60 of 114
- Surah
- Ghafir (40)
God is He who made the earth for you a settledness and the heaven a building. And He formed you, so He made your forms beautiful, and He provided you with the goodly things. This is another blessing and gentleness of which He reminds the servants, thus making the road of servanthood clear for them, showing them the traces of generosity and the indications of power, and placing a favor upon them. He is saying: “When I created heaven and earth, I created them for your sake. I made the earth your settledness, I built the heaven as your gazing place.” If from time to time there were no gazing on heaven, how would heaven have received this bestowal of eminence? We adorned the lowest heaven with lamps [41:12]. If earth were not the encampment of your majestic ruling authority, how would it have seen this caress? And earth, We laid it out-what excellent spreaders! [51:48]. The light of the moon, the brightness of the sun, the adornment of the stars-all is for you. The sun is your cook, the moon is your candle, the stars are your guideposts, heaven your roof, earth your carpet. Tomorrow when you are not there, the roof will be taken down, the carpet rolled up, and the stars will fall. When a carpet is spread for a friend and then the friend goes, the carpet will surely be taken away. “My servant, I created heaven to be your cupbearer: And We sent down from heaven pure water [25:48]. For today is the day of the veil, and there is no escape from the intermediary. But tomorrow will be the day of contemplation, and the intermediary will be of no use. The cupbearer will be My gentleness: And their Lord will pour for them a pure wine [76:21]. I built the earth as an intermediary to give you food: And therein We made grains grow, and vines and herbs, and olives and date-palms [80:27- 29]. Tomorrow will be the day of contemplation, and the intermediary will be of no use. I Myself will say, 'Eat and drink pleasantly' [69:24]. I created the sun to give you light, for today in the world of form the light of recognition is hidden within the curtains of the secret cores of the lovers' hearts.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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