and everything else, for Allah says: “Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth lest they cease, and were they to cease, no one could hold them after Him” (Fatir 35:41). The Throne, therefore, stands in need of Allah, because it is a created thing, whereas Allah is independent of the Throne and of all else. Yet He rose over it for a wisdom known only to Him. Istiwaʾ (rising over the Throne) is a form of exalted elevation, but elevation (ʿulū) itself is an intrinsic attribute, while istiwaʾ is an action-attribute that He performs whenever He wills.

“He wraps the night over the day,” that is, He envelops the night with the day and He veils the day with the night. Thus, while you behold the universe illuminated, the night cloaks it and it becomes dark; then the day cloaks the night and it turns bright again.

“Pursuing it swiftly”: one follows immediately upon the heels of the other without the slightest delay. When the night withdraws, the day arrives, and when the day withdraws, the night comes at once—never does one lag behind the other. This is a sign of the perfection of His power, for neither slackens in pursuing the other.

The sun is the well-known great celestial body, and the moon likewise is one of the seven wandering planets. Each of them moves and revolves above the earth, while the earth itself is fixed and stable; Allah has made it a place of settlement, a firm, steady abode for the benefit of His servants. The sun and the rest of the heavenly spheres revolve around it—not as the pretenders to knowledge nowadays would have us believe.