Surah Al-Anbiya, ayah 30: "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then..." Read it in Arabic with transliteration and the Sahih International translation, with the ayah before and after it, and listen to it recited.
۞ وَمَن يَقُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّىٓ إِلَٰهٌۭ مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِيهِ جَهَنَّمَ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾
Wa mai yaqul minhum inneee ilaahum min doonihee fazaalika najzeehi Jahannam; kazaalika najziz zaalimeen
And whoever of them should say, "Indeed, I am a god besides Him"- that one We would recompense with Hell. Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers.
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًۭا فَفَتَقْنَٰهُمَا ۖ وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ حَىٍّ ۖ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿٣٠﴾
Awalam yaral lazeena kafarooo annas samaawaati wal arda kaanataa ratqan faftaqnaahumaa wa ja'alnaa minal maaa'i kulla shai'in haiyin afalaa yu'minoon
Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?
وَجَعَلْنَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِهِمْ وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا فِجَاجًۭا سُبُلًۭا لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ ﴿٣١﴾
Wa ja'alnaa fil ardi rawaasiya an tameeda bihim wa ja'alnaa feehaa fijaajan subulal la'allahum yahtadoon
And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein [mountain] passes [as] roads that they might be guided.
Arabic: Tanzil, Uthmani script. English: Sahih International. Audio: EveryAyah. Transliteration is a learning aid; read from the Arabic when you can.
Meaning and lessons
Allah asks those who disbelieve to reflect: the heavens and the earth were joined together, and He split them apart, and He made every living thing from water. Ibn Kathir reports Ibn Abbas's explanation: the heavens were closed and gave no rain, and the earth was closed and grew nothing, so Allah opened the sky with rain and the earth with plants. He also reports the view that heaven and earth were one mass that Allah separated.
The point of the ayah is tawhid: the One who brought this ordered world out of a single joined mass, and made life depend on water, is the only One who deserves worship. Many modern readers see a link with how scientists describe the beginning of the universe. The classical tafsir does not depend on that reading, and the ayah's message stands either way.
Summarised in our own words from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on Quran 21:30. Translation of the ayah: Sahih International.
Ayah 30 of Surah Al-Anbiya (الأَنبِيَاءِ), "The Prophets", surah 21 of the Quran, a Meccan surah of 112 ayat revealed in Makkah. It is in juz 17 (para 17), hizb 33, on page 324 of the standard Madinah mushaf. People search for it as 21/30, 21 30 or Quran 21 30.
More verses on this theme: Quran verses about the signs of Allah in creation, Quran verses about life.
Questions
Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe? (Sahih International)
Allah asks those who disbelieve to reflect: the heavens and the earth were joined together, and He split them apart, and He made every living thing from water. Ibn Kathir reports Ibn Abbas's explanation: the heavens were closed and gave no rain, and the earth was closed and grew nothing, so Allah opened the sky with rain and the earth with plants. He also reports the view that heaven and earth were one mass that Allah separated.
It is in Surah Al-Anbiya, surah 21 of the Quran, in juz 17 (para 17), on page 324 of the Madinah mushaf.
The ayah before, 21:29, says: "And whoever of them should say, "Indeed, I am a god besides Him"- that one We would recompense with Hell. Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers." The ayah after, 21:31, says: "And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein [mountain] passes [as] roads that they might be guided."