For He said:

“By the sun and its morning brightness,
and by the moon when it follows it,
and by the day when it reveals it,
and by the night when it covers it.”

Thus He swore by the sun, the moon, the night, and the day, and by their effects and actions, just as He distinguished between them in His words:

“And among His signs are the night and the day, the sun and the moon.”

He also said:

“Each floats in an orbit.”

For it is through the actions and effects of these things that the well-being of the children of Adam and all other living creatures is sustained.

He said:

“By the sun and its morning brightness.”

He did not say “its daytime” or “its light,” because “morning brightness” denotes both light and heat, and it is through light and heat that the well-being of His servants is sustained.

Then He swore by heaven, earth, and the soul. Without mentioning any action of theirs alongside them, He mentioned their Maker, saying:

“And by the One who built it,”

“And by the One who spread it,”

“And by a soul and the One who fashioned it.”

It was not fitting to swear by the soul’s actions, because it performs both righteous and wicked deeds, whereas He, glorified is He, swears only by what is held in high esteem among His creatures. Yet He conveyed implicitly in the oath that He is the Creator of its actions, saying:

“And by the One who fashioned it,
then inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.”

Since He has made clear that He is the Creator of the actions of the servant, whose agency, choice, and power are most evident, then all the more certainly must He be the Creator of the actions of the sun, the moon, the night, and the day.