Science & nature

The Quran commands reading in the name of the Lord who taught by the pen and taught man what he did not know, and the Messenger was sent to teach the Book and wisdom.

The Quran invites people to reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, the rain, the plants and their own selves, and to ponder the verses of the Quran.

These verses state that Allah created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, then rose over the Throne, without any weariness.

The Quran names the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, the sun and the moon, the rain that revives dead land, plants, animals, ships at sea and man's own self as signs of Allah's power and oneness.

The heavens and the earth were once joined and then parted, which according to Jalalain means the sky was made into seven layers and then opened so that it could send down rain; the sky, which was still smoke, Allah made into seven heavens in layers without flaw.

Allah has made the sun and the moon subservient, each running in its course by His decree and reckoning; the sun is made to shine and the moon to give light, and the crescent marks times for people.

The Quran calls the mountains pegs that Allah has set firmly in the earth so that it does not shake with its people, with streaks of many colours, and dwellings that people hew out of them.

Allah has made the sea subservient to people: from it they eat fish and bring out ornaments such as pearls and coral, and ships sail on it by His command.

Allah sends the winds that drive the clouds and gathers them until they are heaped up, and rain comes out from their midst in the measure He decrees.

These verses mention the earthquake that struck Thamud and the people of Madyan so that they lay dead in their homes, and the earthquake that shook the seventy men chosen by Moses.

These verses mention disasters that struck earlier peoples as punishment: the great flood in the time of Noah, the cold wind that destroyed Ad, the thunderbolt that struck Thamud, the rain of stones on the people of Lot, the drought, flood and plagues that struck Pharaoh and his people, the great flood that struck Saba, and the fire that burned a garden.

The Quran speaks of corruption that has appeared on land and sea because of what people's hands have done, which Jalalain explains as rain ceasing and vegetation thinning and Mukhtasar as drought, scarce rain, disease and plague, all brought on by sin, and it forbids causing corruption on the earth after Allah has set it right.

Allah sends down rain and with it brings forth crops, grain, gardens and fruits such as dates, grapes, olives and pomegranates, so that dead land turns green again.

The Quran calls the creatures that walk the earth and the birds that fly communities like mankind, whose provision Allah guarantees.

The first human, Adam, was created from dry clay of black mud, and then a spirit was breathed into him, and from that single soul his spouse was created.