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At first it seems plausible to suppose that 'day' and 'night' refers to the process of the Earth's rotation revealing and obstructing the view of the sun (though the verse also fits with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). But this idea quickly falls apart when comparing with other verses as detailed below, but also even examining the verse in isolation. For the Earth is actually a globe, and there are no specific times 'when' (itha) the day reveals the sun or the night conceals it. Rather at all times half the Earth is in daytime and half in nighttime, so the sun is at all times both revealed and concealed. This problem wouldn't arise if the word 'when' (itha) was absent in these verses. | At first it seems plausible to suppose that 'day' and 'night' refers to the process of the Earth's rotation revealing and obstructing the view of the sun (though the verse also fits with a geocentric view where 'day' and 'night' are processes when the sun is above or below the horizon). But this idea quickly falls apart when comparing with other verses as detailed below, but also even examining the verse in isolation. For the Earth is actually a globe, and there are no specific times 'when' (itha) the day reveals the sun or the night conceals it. Rather at all times half the Earth is in daytime and half in nighttime, so the sun is at all times both revealed and concealed. This problem wouldn't arise if the word 'when' (itha) was absent in these verses. | ||
There are other verses that mention the night covering (with the same Arabic verb as 91. | There are other verses that mention the night covering (with the same Arabic verb as 91.4), which show that the verb in this context does not simply mean the body of the earth blocking the line of sight to something. Verses 92:1-2 use identical words as 91:3-4, but without the pronoun suffix at the end. So the night is when things generally are covered, not just the sun on the other side of the Earth, and the day is when things generally are revealed. Clearly the verbs are meant in a poetic sense. | ||
{{Quote|{{cite quran|92|1|end=2|style=ref}}|By the night enshrouding, And the day resplendent}} | {{Quote|{{cite quran|92|1|end=2|style=ref}}|By the night enshrouding, And the day resplendent}} |