Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke consisting of rising vapours and He said to it and to the earth “Come both of you to what I desire from you willingly or unwillingly!” taw‘an aw karhan their syntactical locus is that of a circumstantial qualifier in other words ‘Come being obedient or coerced’. They said “We come together with all those inhabiting us willingly!” tā’i‘īna mainly indicates masculine rational beings; it may also be that they are referred to in this way because they are being addressed thus.
