He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:
“Did Allah create the heavens and the earth before night and day, or not?”
He replied:
Praise be to Allah. “Night and day,” as brought about by the sun, are dependent upon the heavens and the earth. He did not create this night and this day before these heavens and the earth; rather, He created them as adjuncts to these heavens and the earth. When Allah causes the sun to rise, day comes, and when it sets, night comes. Day results from its appearance, and night from its setting. How, then, could this night and this day have existed before the sun, when the sun and the moon were created together with the heavens and the earth?
Allah, Most High, says:
“And it is He who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon—each floating in an orbit.”
And He, Most High, says:
“It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day. Each floats in an orbit.”
Ibn ʿAbbās and others among the early generations said: “In a circle like the whorl of a spindle.”
Allah, Most High, has thus stated that night and day, the sun and the moon, are in the orbit. According to most scholars, “the orbit” means the heavens. The evidence is that Allah states in these two verses that the sun and the moon are in the orbit, while elsewhere He says:
“Have you not seen how Allah created