93 Billion Light-Years Are Still a Ring | Qur’an, Science & a New Reflection on Human Misfortune
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The seven heavens and the seven earths, in comparison to the Kursī, are like a ring thrown into a vast desert. And the superiority of the ‘Arsh over the Kursī is like the vastness of that desert over the ring.”
Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 361 — narrated by Abu Dharr رضي الله عنه. Tafsir Ibn Kathir
The Prophet ﷺ gave us this comparison so that we could understand how small this world, these heavens, and everything we can see truly are before the vastness of Allah’s ‘Arsh and Kursī.
The Qur’an mentions the Kursī in Ayat al-Kursī, where Allah says:
Surah Al-Baqarah (2:255)
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ
“His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth.”
And modern science and technology have shown us just how enormous the universe itself is.
The observable universe is estimated to be approximately:
Diameter: around 93 billion light-years
Radius: around 46.5 billion light-years in every direction from Earth, or from our position as observers.
And this is only what we are able to observe. We do not even know how much larger the universe is beyond what we can see.
Yet all of this is described in the Hadith as being like a ring thrown into a vast desert when compared with the Kursī.
Think about how small we truly are.
And think about how immense our Creator is.
It is something we cannot even fully comprehend.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Seven are those whom Allah will shade under His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His Shade.”
The seven are:
1. A Just Ruler
2. A Worshipping Youth
3. A Heart Attached to the Mosques
4. Two Who Love Each Other for Allah
5. One Who Rejects Temptation Out of Fear of Allah
6. One Who Gives Charity Secretly
7. One Who Remembers Allah Alone and Weeps
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 660; Sahih Muslim 1031.
But there is another point worth reflecting upon.
The Shadow
We all know how vast the ‘Arsh is like a desert compared to the heavens and the earth. So, imagine how immense its shade would be.
But what if that immense shadow were cast over a small ring? Would the ring receive that shadow?
Of course it would.
But what if, on the Day of Judgment, you do not receive the shade of the ‘Arsh?
What would you call that?
Of course: misfortune.
Why?
Because on the Day of Judgment, Allah’s mercy and the shade of the ‘Arsh will be granted to those who are close to Allah.
If a person has distanced himself from Allah in this world, then imagine how far he will be on that Day—so far that he will not be given a place beneath the shade of Allah’s mighty ‘Arsh. Instead, he will be distanced from Allah.
So come under the shade of Allah’s mercy today, before it becomes too late.
This is a strange kind of shadow one in which there is light, and elevation.
Allah has given human beings the choice to attain it.
We have been given the opportunity in this world, before the time comes when there is no longer an opportunity to return.
So let us return to our Allah today.
If You Want to Know the Hidden Story of Light?
Read this article.
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