Penetration of Heaven: Real or Imaginary?
Salam AlaykumIn Surat ar-Rahman, verses 33-34, the Quran says:?O assembly of Jinn and mankind, if you can penetrate regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate them! You will not penetrate them without authority (from Allah). So which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?? (55:33-34)Could you please carefully explain what is meant by the Arabic word ?antunfuzhu? in this case translated as ?penetrate?. Hasn?t this penetration of the regions of the earth already been done by space travel? (Leaving the atmosphere of earth, going to the moon etc)? I am lead to believe that this refers to the penetration into the Unseen realm (al ghayb)- which is referred to elsewhere in the Qur?an, at 19:78 for example... ?Has he penetrated to the Unseen, or has he taken a contract with (Allah) Most Gracious??I am thinking the penetration would not be literal, as in- what is beyond the heavens and the earth is not literally what is outside the sphere of the earth- but im thinking it refers to what is beyond them in a spiritual sense- passing into another realm, the realm of the Unseen, al ghayb i.e. the realm of Allah. So basically my question is, is it a LITERAL penetration of heaven/earth, or spiritual penetration into the realm of the Unseen? (the latter would conform with today's space travel reality)Sorry for the long question, thankyou?
