"He has created
the Heavens and the Earth for Truth. He wraps the night up in
the day, and wraps the day up in the night."
(The Qur'an, 39:5)
(The Qur'an, 39:5)
In the Qur'an, the words used for
describing the universe are quite remarkable. The Arabic word
that is translated as "to wrap" in the above verse is
"takwir". In English, it means "to make one thing
lap over another, folded up as a garment that is laid away".
(For instance, in Arabic dictionaries this word is used for the
action of wrapping one thing around another, in the way that a
turban is put on.)
The information given in the verse
about the day and the night wrapping each other up includes accurate
information about the shape of the world. This can be true only
if the earth is round. This means that in the Qur'an, which was
revealed in the 7th century, the roundness of the world was hinted
at.
It should be remembered, however,
that the understanding of astronomy of the time perceived the
world differently. It was then thought that the world was a flat
plane and all scientific calculations and explanations were based
on this belief. The verses of the Qur'an, however, include information
that we have learned only in the past century. Since the Qur'an
is God's word, the most correct words were used in it when it
comes to describing the universe.