In this episode, we explore one of the most layered passages in the surah: the star and the tree both performing sajdah and the sky being raised while the scale is set.
We begin by unpacking the word sajdah beyond its ritual meaning. Before it became associated with prayer, it meant lowering, surrendering, humbling oneself. A palm tree heavy with fruit was described as making sajdah. A camel lowering itself to be mounted was described as making sajdah. The image is one of submission and yielding.
So what does it mean that the star and the tree make sajdah?
It may refer to the literal falling of stars across the sky, the way trees incline toward the sun or the seasonal rhythms tied to constellations that ancient Arabs understood deeply. The most beautiful sight in the desert night was the sky filled with stars. The most beautiful sight in the desert day was a tree. And both, Allah says, are in humility.
Then the passage shifts dramatically: He raised the sky and set the scale.
The vastness of the heavens does not mean human beings are insignificant in moral responsibility. Creation is immense, but command is precise. The same One who governs galaxies has placed a measure on human action. Balance exists in the cosmos and balance exists in justice.
The universe runs on precision. Orbits do not drift. Distances do not collapse. And just as the sky follows exact order, human life is meant to operate within a moral scale.
Creation and command belong to Him.
Episode 7 challenges how we see the sky, how we understand submission and how we view accountability in a universe that feels overwhelmingly vast.
Surah Ar-Rahman recitation recorded and provided by Qari Ibraheem Bakeer -
https://youtube.com/@Maqamat_with_Bakeer
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