What do the “two Easts and two Wests” in Surah Ar-Rahman mean?

The verse can be understood as pointing to the great regions of the world, such as the Near and the Far East, and the European and the American West. Since the Holy Qur’an elsewhere even speaks of many Easts and Wests, the verse points to a development that only became visible much later.

Someone reading the first verse above may be puzzled. Surely there is only one East and one West, where the sun rises and sets. Commentators have often thought of the different points at which the sun rises in summer and in winter. Yet the verse also carries a further meaning that is easy to recognise only today.

We speak quite naturally of the Near East and the Far East. In the same way, there are now two great parts of the West, Europe on one side and America on the other. At the time of revelation, America was unknown to the world. That the Holy Qur’an nevertheless speaks of two Wests is remarkable.

The second verse above goes further still and speaks of many Easts and many Wests. This is exactly how the world has developed. Two great blocs turned into many regions, each with its own ideas and its own weight. The West, too, is no longer a single entity today, but holds very different notions of what being “Western” means.

The verse can therefore be read as a kind of foresight. It describes God as the Lord of every region of the world and at the same time hints at how the world would divide. The verse that follows asks which of God’s favours man would deny. The answer is that God’s rule and care embrace all these parts of the world, however many there may be.