“Have they not looked at the heaven above them—how We built it and adorned it, leaving no rifts in it?”

He, glorified be He, fashioned it in due proportion, just as He fashioned the sun, the moon, and other created things, balancing their parts. If one side of the heaven protruded inward or outward, it would contain rifts—that is, openings and cracks—and He would not have fashioned it evenly. It would be like someone building a dome without making it even. The same would apply if He made one side longer or shorter, or anything similar. Balance and proportion are therefore necessary in all created and manufactured things. Whenever corresponding parts are not made with balance and evenness, the result is defective. He, glorified be He, is:

“He who created and proportioned.”

Commenting on His words, “created and proportioned,” Abū al-ʿĀliyah said: “He gave their creation due proportion.” This is like His saying, Most High:

“Then He completed them as seven heavens in two days.”

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Then, when He has created a creature and given it due proportion, if He does not guide it to the fulfillment of the wise purpose for which it was created, it will fall into ruin. It must therefore subsequently be guided to that for which it was created.