12 Preface وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ اللَّيلَ وَالنَّهارَ وَالشَّمسَ وَالقَمَرَ ۖ وَالنُّجومُ مُسَخَّراتٌ بِأَمرِهِ ۗ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِقَومٍ يَعقِلونَYusuf AliHe has made subject to you the Night and the Day;1 the sun and the moon; and the stars are in subjection by His Command: verily in this are Signs for men who are wise.The Night and Day are caused by astronomical rotations. What is important for man to note is how God has given intelligence to man to make use of this alternation for work and rest; how man can, as soon as he rises from the primitive stage, get over their inequalities by artificial illuminants, such as vegetable or mineral oils, coal, gas, or electricity, which ultimately are derived from the storedup energy of the sun; how the sun’s heat can be tempered by various artificial means and can be stored up for use by man as required; how man can be independent of the tides caused by the moon and the sun, which formerly controlled navigation, but which no longer stand in man’s way, with his artificial harbours and great sea-going ships; how navigation was formerly subject to direct observation of the Polar Star and other stars but how the magnetic needle and charts have now completely altered the position, and man can calculate and to a certain extent control magnetic variations, etc. In such ways the sun, the moon, and the stars themselves become useful servants to him, all by God’s gift and His Command, without which there would have been no laws governing them and no intelligence to make use of them.