11ثُمَّ استَوىٰ إِلَى السَّماءِ وَهِيَ دُخانٌ فَقالَ لَها وَلِلأَرضِ ائتِيا طَوعًا أَو كَرهًا قالَتا أَتَينا طائِعينَMuhammad AsadAnd1 He [it is who] applied His design to the skies, which were [yet but] smoke;2 and He [it is who] said to them and to the earth, "Come [into being], both of you, willingly or unwillingly!" - to which both responded, "We do come in obedience."3Whenever the particle thumma is used, as in the above instance, to link parallel statements -i.e., statements not necessarily indicating a sequence in time it has the function of a simple conjunction, and may be rendered as "and".I.e., a gas - evidently hydrogen gas, which physicists regard as the primal element from which all material particles of the universe have evolved and still evolve. For the meaning of the term sama ("sky" or "skies" or "heaven") in its cosmic connotation, see note 20 on 2:29.Explaining this passage, Zamakhshari observes: "The meaning of God's command to the skies and the earth to 'come', and their submission [to His command] is this: He willed their coming into being, and so they came to be as He willed them to be...: and this is the kind of metaphor (majaz) which is called 'allegory' (tamthil)... Thus, the purport [of this passage] is but an illustration (taswir) of the effect of His almighty power on all that is willed [by Him], and nothing else...." (It is obvious that Zamakhshari's reasoning is based on the oft-repeated Qur'anic statement, "When God wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, 'Be' - and it is.") Concluding his interpretation of the above passage, Zamakshari adds: "If I am asked about the meaning of [the words] 'willingly or unwillingly', I say that it is a figurative expression (mathal) indicating that His almighty will must inevitably take effect."