أَوَلَمْ يَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَـٰهُمَا ۖ وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ حَىٍّ ۖ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Awalam yaral lazeena kafarooo annas samaawaati wal arda kaanataa ratqan faftaqnaahumaa wa ja'alnaa minal maaa'i kulla shai'in haiyin afalaa yu'minoon
Czyż ci, którzy nie uwierzyli, nie widzieli, iż niebiosa i ziemia stanowiły jedną zwartą masę i My rozdzieliliśmy je, i stworzyliśmy z wody każdą żyjącą rzecz? Czyż oni nie uwierzą?
Do those who deny not see that the heavens and the earth were once a single mass, and we tore them apart, and from water we made every living thing? Will they still not believe?
Two words hold this verse: ratq, a thing sewn shut, and fatq, the tearing open of that seam. The tradition split over the pair, reading it either as the heavens and earth once joined and then parted, or as the sky closed against rain and the earth against growth until both were opened. What follows is a run of ordinary sights, mountains, sky, orbits, set in front of people who had asked for a sign.