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As for His words,
“Lord of the East and the West,”
this refers to the day on which daylight and darkness stand equal; Allah swore an oath by that day’s sunrise and its sunset.
As for His words,
“Lord of the two Easts and the two Wests,”
this points to the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year; Allah swore by the sunrise and sunset of each.
And His words,
“Lord of the many Easts and the many Wests,”
refer to all the sunrises and sunsets throughout the year. These are the verses the heretics took issue with.¹
… a single sunrise point, and its overall point of descent is likewise one sunrise point, facing which are its two sunset points. This explains why the Qurʾan sometimes uses the singular, the dual, and at other times the plural. As for why each passage is singled out for the form it receives, I have not found anyone who has treated the matter or opened its door, yet—praise be to Allah—it is plain from the context; see: Ibn al-Qayyim, Badaʾiʿ al-fawaʾid, 1/121.
(1) See: al-Tabari, Jamiʿ al-bayan, 19/70; 27/127; 29/87; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 4/290; and al-Shawkani, Fath al-qadir, 5/134.
أما قوله:
{رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ}
فهذا اليوم الذي يستوي فيه الليل والنهار، أقسم الله بمشرقه ومغربه،
وأما قوله:
{رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ}
فهذا أطول يوم في السنة، وأقصر يوم في السنة، أقسم الله بمشرقهما ومغربهما،
وأما قوله:
"رب المشارق ورب المغارب"
فهو مشارق السنة ومغاربها، فهذا ما شكت فيه الزنادقة١.
= مشرقًا واحدًا، ومشرق هبوطها بجملته مشرقًا واحدًا، ويقابلها مغرباها، فهذا وجه اختلاف هذه في الإفراد والتثنية والجمع، وأما وجه اختصاص كل موضع بما وقع فيه فلم أرَ أحدًا تعرض له ولا فتح بابه، وهو بحمد الله بَيِّنٌ من السياق، انظر: بدائع الفوائد "١٢١/١".
١ انظر: تفسير الطبري "٧٠/١٩" "١٢٧/٢٧" "٨٧/٢٩" وتفسير ابن كثير "٢٩٠/٤" وتفسير الشوكاني "١٣٤/٥".