Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars
إنا زينا السماء الدنيا بزينة الكواكب
The pronoun “We” refers to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The plural pronoun is used for Allah in the sense of magnification, not in the sense of plurality, because the verse says:
Indeed, your God is One
إن إلهكم لواحد
But this is in the sense of magnification. And His saying “We adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment” means We placed upon it that which adorns it, which are the stars. For this reason He said:
with an adornment of the stars
بزينة الكواكب
And in a reading:
with an adornment of the stars
بزينة الكواكب
Both are correct. “With an adornment of the stars” means with the stars that adorn the sky, as He the Exalted said:
And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars
ولقد زينا السماء الدنيا بمصابيح
And the stars, in the reading cited by the author, are the object of the preposition, and “adornment” is a non-noun with a non-nunation in “with an adornment of the stars,” because the stars themselves are an adornment with which the nearest heaven is adorned.
So if someone asks, “Why is it called the nearest heaven?” It is because it is closer to the earth than what is above it, so it is the nearest. We might also say that it is the nearest in terms of width and strength to what is above it, because as you go higher, the space widens. The heavens are circular above the earth, and it is known that as you ascend, it widens. And as it widens, it becomes stronger, because if the wider part were weaker than what is beneath it, it would collapse. So as the structure widens, it must necessarily be stronger.
And we give you an example: if you bring a metal bar five meters long, it might need to be ten centimeters thick. But if you make it twenty meters long, it needs to be thicker, meaning it needs to be more substantial. Because if it were the same thickness as the first one but with that length, it would break. So as it widens, it must necessarily be a stronger and more sound construction.
And His saying:
with an adornment of the stars
بزينة الكواكب
means that the stars adorn the sky. We will raise an objection to this, which is that we mentioned a little while ago that the stars and planets are in an orbit between the sky and the earth. The apparent meaning of the verse is that the adornment of the nearest heaven is with something attached to it. The answer to this is to say that a thing can be adorned by another thing even if it is separate from it. Have you seen if chandeliers are placed outside a palace, with chandeliers placed around it? If you look at the palace and the chandeliers are between you and it, then these chandeliers will be an adornment for the palace, even though in reality they are not touching it. Anything that is between you and another thing will be attributed to the second thing and will appear to you as if it is attached to it, even though it is not. Even when we were young, one of us would say, “I am touching the sky.” How? If he says this while pointing with his finger, the observer sees it as if he touched the sky, but that is not the case.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, the nearness and strength, this is in this world, the nearest heaven. “Indeed, We have adorned.”
The student:
(11) Then inquire of them, [O Muhammad], "Are they a stronger [or more difficult] creation or those [others] We have created?" Indeed, We created men from sticky clay. (12) But you wonder, while they mock, (13) And when they are reminded, they remember not. (14) And when they see a sign, they ridicule
فاستفتهم أهم أشد خلقا أمن خلقنا إنا خلقناهم من طين لازب بل عجبت ويسخرون وإذا ذكروا لا يذكرون وإذا رأوا آية يستسخرون
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