Quran Universe
23:17

وَلَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا فَوۡقَكُمۡ سَبۡعَ طَرَآئِقَ وَمَا كُنَّا عَنِ ٱلۡخَلۡقِ غَٰفِلِينَ

Walaqad khalaqna fawqakum sabAAa taraiqa wama kunna AAani alkhalqi ghafileena

And We have created above you seven layered heavens, and never have We been of [Our] creation unaware.

Word by word
  1. وَلَقَدۡAnd indeed
  2. خَلَقۡنَاWe (have) created
  3. فَوۡقَكُمۡabove you
  4. سَبۡعَseven
  5. طَرَآئِقَpaths
  6. وَمَاand not
  7. كُنَّاWe are
  8. عَنِof
  9. ٱلۡخَلۡقِthe creation
  10. غَٰفِلِينَunaware
Al-Mu'minun · 23:17Makkah

Seven heavens above you, and none of you is unnoticed.

The vast sky and a Creator who is never unaware

Above you
seven heavenslayered, one above another
yet
never unawareof any creature
Big sky, small me
too small to be seenlost in a huge universe
fully knownno layer hides you

After man, Allah turns to the heavens, as He often pairs the two. Ibn Kathir says no heaven hides from Him another, no sea hides what is in its depths. He knows what goes into the earth and what comes out, and He is with you wherever you are.

Late at night, the city lights, a feeling that no one really sees what you carry. A huge sky and one small person on a balcony. The sky is vast, and still you are not missed.

In a universe this big, nobody notices me.

The One who built the heavens is never unaware of me.

Try this

Step outside tonight, look up for one minute, and tell Allah one thing you have told no one.

Related40:5771:156:59
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And indeed We have created above you seven Tara'iq, and We are never unaware of the creation (17)

His Sign in the Creation of the Heavens

After mentioning the creation of man, Allah then mentions the creation of the seven heavens. Allah often mentions the creation of the heavens and earth alongside the creation of man, as He says elsewhere:

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ 

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind)(40:57). A similar Ayah appears at the beginning of Surat As-Sajdah, which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to recite on Friday mornings. At the beginning it mentions the creation of the heavens and earth, then it says how man was created from semen from clay, and it also discusses the resurrection and rewards and punishments, and other matters.

سَبْعَ طَرَائِقَ

(seven Tara'iq.) Mujahid said, "This means the seven heavens." This is like the Ayat:

تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَاوَاتُ السَّبْعُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ

(The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him)(17:44)

أَلَمْ تَرَوْا كَيْفَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا 

(See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another?)(71:15)

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الْأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ لِتَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا 

(It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof. His command descends between them (heavens and earth), that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah surrounds all things in (His) knowledge)(65:12) Similarly, Allah says here:

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا فَوْقَكُمْ سَبْعَ طَرَائِقَ وَمَا كُنَّا عَنِ الْخَلْقِ غَافِلِينَ

(And indeed We have created above you seven Tara'iq, and We are never unaware of the creation.) meaning, Allah knows what goes into the earth and what comes out of it, what comes down from heaven and what goes up into it. He is with you wherever you are, and Allah sees what you do. No heaven is hidden from Him by another and no earth is hidden from Him by another. There is no mountain but He knows its features, and no sea but He knows what is in its depths. He knows the numbers of what is in the mountains, the hills, the sands, the seas, the landscapes and the trees.

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ 

(And not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.)(6:59)