Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “It is He who created for you all that is on the earth, then He directed Himself to the heaven, and He arranged them as seven heavens, and He is All-Knowing of all things.”

Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: When He (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned that He is capable of giving life and causing death, He explained His favor upon the servants by stating that He created for them all that is on the earth. He created it, bringing it into existence without any prior example, but rather in accordance with what His wisdom (Exalted and Majestic is He) and His knowledge required. And His saying: The letter "lam" has two meanings here: the first meaning is permissibility, as you would say, "I have permitted it for you," and the second meaning is causation, meaning He created for your sake all that is on the earth. And His saying: This "ma" is a relative pronoun that encompasses everything on the earth, so it is created for us, including the trees, crops, rivers, and mountains, every single thing. This means that after Allah created all of this for us, He directed Himself to it, meaning He rose to it. This is how Ibn Jarir (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted it. It was also said that "He directed Himself to it" means He intended to go to it, and this is what Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) chose. Thus, the scholars have two opinions regarding the interpretation of the phrase "He directed Himself to": the first is that "istawa" here means intention, and when the intention is complete, it is said "istawa," because "istawa" in its entirety indicates perfection, as Allah the Exalted said: meaning He perfected it. So, whoever looks at this verb being followed by "ila" (to) says that "istawa" here carries the meaning of intention, while whoever looks at the fact that "istawa" does not occur except in relation to height makes "ila" mean "ala" (upon). However, this is weak, because Allah the Exalted never directed Himself upon the heaven, but rather He directed Himself upon the Throne. Therefore, the closest view is that the correct opinion is what Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) held, which is that "istawa" here means complete intention and firm will. And His saying: means the height. And the heaven was smoke, meaning like smoke, so He arranged them as seven heavens, layers that are strong and firm. And from His knowledge (Mighty and Majestic is He) is that He knows how to create this heaven.