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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|10|90|92}}|And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims." Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters? So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless}}Reynolds comments, "The question of Pharaoh's survival appears in an opinion found in the (late fourth century AD) ''Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael'' (cr. Gavin McDowell): | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|10|90|92}}|And We took the Children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them in tyranny and enmity until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims." Now? And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters? So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless}}Reynolds comments, "The question of Pharaoh's survival appears in an opinion found in the (late fourth century AD) ''Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael'' (cr. Gavin McDowell): | ||
::"And the waters returned and covered the chariot etc. [Exo 14:27]. Even Pharaoh, according to the words of R. Judah, as it is said, 'The chariots of Pharaoh and his force, etc.' [Exo 15:4]. R. Nehimiah says: ''Except for Pharaoh.'' About him it says, 'However, for this purpose I have let you live' [Exo 9:16]. Others say that in the end Pharaoh went down and drowned, as it is said, 'Then went the horse of Pharaoh, etc.' [Exo 15:19]. (Beshallah 7)"<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Qurʾān and Bible'' p. 339</ref> | ::"And the waters returned and covered the chariot etc. [Exo 14:27]. Even Pharaoh, according to the words of R. Judah, as it is said, 'The chariots of Pharaoh and his force, etc.' [Exo 15:4]. R. Nehimiah says: ''Except for Pharaoh.'' About him it says, 'However, for this purpose I have let you live' [Exo 9:16]. Others say that in the end Pharaoh went down and drowned, as it is said, 'Then went the horse of Pharaoh, etc.' [Exo 15:19]. (Beshallah 7)"<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Qurʾān and Bible'' p. 339</ref> | ||
==Shooting Stars and Eavesdropping Satans== | |||
''Main article: [[Shooting Stars in the Quran]]'' | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|37|6-10}}|Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars, And as protection against every rebellious devil [So] they may not listen to the exalted assembly [of angels] and are pelted from every side, Repelled; and for them is a constant punishment, Except one who snatches [some words] by theft, but they are pursued by a burning flame, piercing.}} | |||
The idea of shooting stars chasing away eavesdropping devils has Zoroastrian, Jewish, and probably Arabian roots. This was noted by Patricia Crone in the commentary published following the 2012-13 Qur'an Seminar (a series of academic conferences).<ref>Patricia Crone's comments in [https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110445909/html?lang=en The Qur’an Seminar Commentary: A Collaborative Study of 50 Qur’anic Passages] De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 305-312</ref> She argues that though the Zoroastrian sources were written after the Quran, their contents date to the Sassanian period, before the rise of Islam. Here the fixed stars and constellations are warriors led by the sun and moon to repel demons represented by moving bodies (planets and comets) from passing to the upper heaven. It is in the Jewish ''Testament of Solomon'' (1st to 3rd century CE) where the demons who fly up among the stars are not warriors but rather try to listen into God's decisions about men. Here, people see shooting stars as the exhausted demons falling back to earth. Eavesdropping demons also feature in the Babylonian Talmud. | |||
==Allah keeps the heavens and the birds from falling== | ==Allah keeps the heavens and the birds from falling== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|67|19}}|Do they not see the birds above them with wings outspread and [sometimes] folded in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed He is, of all things, Seeing.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|16|79}}|Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky? Nothing holds them up but (the power of) Allah. Verily in this are signs for those who believe}}The same verb for holding (amsaka) appears in {{Quran|22|65}} and {{Quran|35|41}} with regard to Allah holding the sky from falling to earth.{{Quote|{{Quran|22|65}}|Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is on the earth and the ships which run through the sea by His command? And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth, unless by His permission. Indeed Allah, to the people, is Kind and Merciful.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|35|41}}|Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease. And if they should cease, no one could hold them [in place] after Him. Indeed, He is Forbearing and Forgiving.}}In his 2023 academic book on Quranic cosmology, Julien Decharneux observes that the 6th century CE Syriac Christian writer Jacob of Serugh repeatedly used birdflight as an illustration of the concept of ''remzā'' ("[The remzā] is, both in Narsai and Jacob, the medium through which God’s power operates."<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023), ''Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur’ān and Its Late Antique Background'', Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 149</ref>) | {{Quote|{{Quran|67|19}}|Do they not see the birds above them with wings outspread and [sometimes] folded in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed He is, of all things, Seeing.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|16|79}}|Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky? Nothing holds them up but (the power of) Allah. Verily in this are signs for those who believe}}The same verb for holding (amsaka) appears in {{Quran|22|65}} and {{Quran|35|41}} with regard to Allah holding the sky from falling to earth.{{Quote|{{Quran|22|65}}|Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is on the earth and the ships which run through the sea by His command? And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth, unless by His permission. Indeed Allah, to the people, is Kind and Merciful.}}{{Quote|{{Quran|35|41}}|Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease. And if they should cease, no one could hold them [in place] after Him. Indeed, He is Forbearing and Forgiving.}}In his 2023 academic book on Quranic cosmology, Julien Decharneux observes that the 6th century CE Syriac Christian writer Jacob of Serugh repeatedly used birdflight as an illustration of the concept of ''remzā'' ("[The remzā] is, both in Narsai and Jacob, the medium through which God’s power operates."<ref>Julien Decharneux (2023), ''Creation and Contemplation: The Cosmology of the Qur’ān and Its Late Antique Background'', Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 149</ref>) | ||