“Have those who disbelieve not considered that the heavens and the earth were once joined together, then We split them apart, and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe? (30) And We placed firm mountains in the earth lest it should shake with them, and made therein broad mountain passes as pathways, so that they might be guided. (31)”

“Have those who disbelieve not considered”: Ibn Kathir recited it as alam yara (“Have they not considered”), without the waw (1), and it is likewise written in their codices. Its meaning is: Have those who disbelieve not known “that the heavens and the earth were once joined together”? Ibn Abbas, Ata, and Qatadah said: They were a single thing, joined together. “Then We split them apart”: We separated them by means of the air. Linguistically, ratq means sealing or closing up, while fatq means splitting open.

Kab said: Allah created the heavens and the earth layered one upon another; then He created a wind, placed it between them (2), and opened them apart through it.

Mujahid and al-Suddi said: The heavens were joined together as a single layer, then He split them and made them into seven heavens. Likewise, the earth was joined together as a single layer, then He made it into seven earths.

Ikrimah and Atiyyah said: The sky was sealed, sending down no rain, and the earth was sealed, producing no vegetation. Then He opened the sky with rain and the earth with vegetation. He used the singular expression ratq (“a joined entity”), though it describes the heavens and the earth, because it is a verbal noun used in place of an adjective, like zur (“falsehood”) and sawm (“fasting”), and similar expressions.

“And We made [and created] (3) from water every living thing”: that is, through the water that comes down from the sky, We gave life to every living thing—namely animals, which includes plants and trees. This means that water is the cause of the life of everything. The exegetes say: [That is,] (4) every living thing is created from water, as He, Exalted is He, says: “Allah created every creature from water” (al-Nur 24:45). Abu al-Aliyah said: This means the sperm-drop. If it is asked: Yet Allah created some living things without water? The answer is that this is an expression of predominance: most living creatures on earth are created from water, or their continued existence depends upon water. “Will they not then believe?”

“And We placed firm mountains in the earth”: that is, fixed mountains, “lest it should shake with them”; that is, so that it would not shake with them (5). “And We made therein”—that is, among the firm mountains—“broad mountain passes”: roads and routes. A mountain pass is a broad road.