And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, the first of which was Sunday and the last, Friday — and His Throne, before creating them, was upon the water, borne by the winds — that He might try you (li-yabluwakum is semantically connected to khalaqa, ‘He [Who] created’), in other words, He created them and all that is beneficial and good for you in them, in order to test you: which of you is best in conduct, that is, [which of you] is most obedient to God. And if you were to say, O Muhammad (s), to them: ‘Truly you shall be raised again after death’, those who disbelieve will say, ‘This, Qur’ān that speaks of resurrection — or, [this] that you are saying — is nothing but manifest, clear, sorcery’ (sihrun: a variant reading has sāhirun, ‘sorcerer’, in which case the reference is to the Prophet (s).
