with strength. Someone might suppose that the word ayd here is the plural of yad (“hand”), but that is not so. Rather, ayd is the verbal noun of āda ya’īdu, meaning “to be strong.”
“He raised its canopy and fashioned it perfectly.” He raised it—that is, above the earth—and He, Glorified and Exalted, raised it without pillars, as Allah Most High says, “Allah is the One who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see” [al-Raʿd: 2].
“And fashioned it perfectly”—that is, He made it even, complete, and perfect, just as the Most High says concerning the creation of man, “O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Generous Lord, who created you and fashioned you perfectly?” [al-Infitār: 6–7]. “Fashioned you perfectly” means that He made you well-proportioned and complete in form. Likewise, Allah, Glorified and Exalted, fashioned the heaven perfectly.
“He darkened its night”—that is, He made it dark. Night is dark, as Allah Most High says, “We made night and day as two signs. Then We erased the sign of night and made the sign of day illuminating” [al-Isrāʾ: 12].
“And brought forth its daylight”—He made it manifest through the sun, which rises every day from the east and sets in the west.
“And after that, the earth”—that is, after the creation of the heavens and the earth—“He spread it out.” He, Glorified be He, explained this spreading in His words, “He brought forth from it its water and pasture.” The earth had been created before the heaven, as Allah Most High says:
“Say, ‘Do you indeed disbelieve in the One who created the earth in two days and set up rivals to Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. He placed firm mountains upon it, blessed it, and apportioned its sustenance in four days, equally for those who ask. Then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come willingly or unwillingly.” They said, “We come willingly.” Then He completed them as seven heavens in two days’” [Fussilat: 9–12].
Thus, the earth was created before the heaven, but its spreading and the bringing forth of its water and pasture occurred after the creation of the heavens.
“And He firmly anchored the mountains”—that is, He made them firmly rooted in the earth so that the winds cannot sweep them away, however strong they may be. They also stabilize the earth so that it does not shake beneath its inhabitants, as the Most High says, “And He cast firm mountains into the earth lest it sway with you.”
“As provision for you and your livestock”—that is, Allah Most High made all of this a provision for us, from which we benefit in what we eat and drink, and for our livestock, meaning our grazing animals such as camels, cattle, sheep, and others, which provide for us and through which our wealth grows.