Sign 11 of 12 · Light and shade · Qur'an 25:45-46
How He stretches the shadow
Watch a shadow sweep a courtyard.
Signs · How He stretches the shadow
“Have you not seen how your Lord stretches out the shadow? Had He willed, He could have made it still. Then We made the sun its guide, then We draw it back to Us, little by little” (25:45-46, our rendering).
The science. A shadow's sweep tracks the Earth's turning. At the equator, the ground beneath you moves at about 1,670 kilometres an hour.
Three faiths. “My days are like a lengthening shadow” (Psalm 102:12, JPS 1917). Hezekiah's sign was the shadow on the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20).
Pause and ponder
Look again. What else have you looked past?
Wonder, not proof: we never say a verse “predicted” science. Why not? · Science: Astronomy · Index entry I09
