16وَانشَقَّتِ السَّماءُ فَهِيَ يَومَئِذٍ واهِيَةٌMuhammad Asadand the sky will be rent asunder1 - for, frail will it have become on that Day - ;The term as-sarna' may denote here "the sky" or "skies", i.e., the visible firmament, or "heaven" in its allegorical sense, or the aggregate of cosmic systems comprised in the concept of "the universe" (cf. surah 2, note 20). Its being "rent asunder" is perhaps a metaphor for a total breakdown of the cosmic order.