Walaqad khalaqna fawqakum sabAAa taraiqa wama kunna AAani alkhalqi ghafileena
English
Ahmed Ali
We made several highways one over the other above you. We are not neglectful of creation.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (and we have created above you seven paths) seven heavens, some above others like a dome, (and we are never unmindful of creation) leaving them without commands and prohibitions.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and verily we created above you seven paths, that is, [seven] heavens (tarā’iq is the plural of tarīqa [so called] because they are the paths used by the angels) and of creation, that lies beneath these [paths], we are never unmindful, lest these should fall upon them and destroy them. nay, but we hold them back, as [stated] in the verse: and he holds back the heaven lest it should fall upon the earth [q. 22:65].
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : and verily we created above you seven paths…that is, the seven veils (ḥujub) which veil [a person] from his lord, mighty and majestic is he: the first veil is his intellect (ʿaql), the second his knowledge (ʿilm), the third his heart (qalb), the fourth his fear (khashiya), the fifth his self (nafs), the sixth his wish (irāda) and the seventh his will (mashīʾa). the intellect [is a veil] in its preoccupation with the management of the affairsof this world (tadbīr al-dunyā); knowledge because of the vainglory (mubāhāt) [it breeds] among peers; the heart in its heedlessness (ghafla); fear because of its disregard for influxes [of grace from above] (bi-ighfālihā ʿan mawārid al-umūr ʿalayhā) ; the self because it is the haven (maʾwā) for every tribulation (baliyya); the will because it is directed towards this world and turned away from the hereafter; the wish due to its pursuance of sins.his words:
