Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 322
THE QURAN AND COSMOLOGY 36:39 وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍ لهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ *. And the sun is constantly moving in the direction of its ultimate abode of rest. This is the decree of the. Almighty, the All-Knowing. ". It clearly speaks of a point in space to be the sun's final resting place. Despite the fact that it is only the sun which is mentioned, the verses which immediately follow bind the entire universe to the movement of the sun in the same specific direction: وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٌ لهَا ذلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيم وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُوْنِ الْقَدِيمِ * لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنْبَغِي لَهَا أَنْ تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا الَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ 41-36:39. And the sun is constantly moving in the direction of its ultimate abode of rest. This is the decree of the. Almighty, the All-Knowing. . And for the moon We have regulated stages until it looks like a thin branch of an old palm tree. . Nor does it behove for the sun to overtake the moon nor for the night to overtake the day . . . 18. If it were only the sun which was moving in a fixed direction, the verse which follows this statement would not have proclaimed that the sun and the moon strictly maintain their mutual distance; they will never be able to gain or move away from each other, an unchangeable destiny till their appointed time. This clearly shows that in whatever direction the sun is moving, the moon is also moving. . But it is not only the question of the sun and the moon. All the heavenly bodies are described in the Quran as soundlessly floating. Again there are numerous verses in 313