We often pass through night and day without pausing to reflect. Dawn arrives gently, dusk settles quietly, and life continues in familiar rhythms. Yet the Qur’an draws our attention to these ordinary moments and invites us to see them as signs of something far greater.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى does not merely mention night and day as markers of time. He describes their interaction with language that carries depth, precision, and meaning, language that continues to resonate even in the age of modern science.

Allah says:

The verse does not describe night and day as separate blocks that abruptly replace one another. Instead, it uses language of دخول and إدخال, merging and entering, indicating a gradual, seamless transition.

This aligns with what we now know through observation and astronomy. As the Earth rotates, no place experiences an instant switch from daylight to darkness. There is always a slow unfolding, twilight, dawn, dusk, a continuous blending as light recedes and returns.

The Qur’an invites us to see this process not as randomness, but as deliberate design.

Even more striking is the verse in Surah Az Zumar:

The Arabic word used here is kawwara, which means to wrap or coil something around another, like wrapping a turban around the head.

This imagery is remarkable.

Coiling only makes sense around something rounded. Light and darkness do not “wrap” around a flat surface. They envelop a sphere. As the Earth rotates, night and day are continuously wound around its surface, each following the other without interruption.

This was not common knowledge in seventh century Arabia. While some ancient thinkers speculated about the Earth’s shape, such ideas were neither widespread nor observationally confirmed. Yet the Qur’an employs language that precisely matches what we now observe from space.

The Qur’an also alludes to the Earth’s form with remarkable subtlety. In Surah An Nazi‘at, Allah says:

The word used here, dahaha, has been noted by classical Arabic linguists to carry the meaning of spreading while also being related to the word for an ostrich egg.

This is not a crude or literal description. It is poetic and precise.

Modern science tells us that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is an oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator, a shape remarkably similar to an egg.

The Qur’an does not present a scientific textbook. It presents signs. And those signs remain consistent no matter how much our tools of measurement improve.

These verses remind us of an essential principle. Islam does not ask us to suspend our intellect. It asks us to use it with humility.

The Qur’an repeatedly calls us to observe, to reflect, to ponder. When science uncovers truths about the natural world, it does not threaten faith. It deepens it. Each discovery becomes another layer of meaning in verses we may have read for years.

As Allah says:

Does the Qur’an explicitly say the Earth is round?
The Qur’an uses descriptive language and imagery rather than explicit geometric definitions, inviting reflection rather than technical debate.

Is this an example of scientific miracles in the Qur’an?
Many scholars prefer the term signs rather than miracles, emphasizing guidance and meaning over polemics.

Did classical scholars discuss these interpretations?
Classical tafsir focused on linguistic and theological meaning. Modern observations add layers of reflection without replacing earlier understandings.

Does Islam require rejecting modern science?
No. Islam historically encouraged scientific inquiry, observation, and learning as acts of worship when done with proper intention.

How should believers approach science today?
With humility, curiosity, and gratitude, recognizing knowledge as a trust from Allah, not a source of arrogance.

Night and day are not merely passing scenes in the background of our lives. They are signs in motion, reminders written across the sky, calling us to awareness.

When we slow down and reflect, we realize that faith and reason are not rivals. They are companions on the same path, leading the attentive heart back to its Creator.