Third step:

The heavens' silence and tranquillity order and serene regularity and vastness and radiance show that their inhabitants differ from those of Earth: They obey God and do not quarrel or dispute among themselves. for they are innocent their realm is vast their nature is pure and their stations are fixed. This differs from Earth where opposites exist side by side. evil is mixed with good and disputes arise and the result is conflict and suffering. Conscious beings are tested and forced to compete which results in progress or regress. This is so for the following reason:

Humanity is the fruit of the Tree of Creation. The fruit of something is its furthest most delicate and important part. Thus we are the fruit of the universe; a most comprehensive wonderful impotent and weak being; and a most subtle miracle of Power. Given this. Earth despite its small size and insignificance when compared with the heavens is the universe's heart and center with respect to its meaning and art for it is our cradle and dwelling place. Moreover it exhibits all miracles of the Divine Names and concentrates and reflects God's infinite activity as the Master. Sustainer. Trainer and Ruler of all beings. It also is the center and pivot of the endless Divine creativity displayed in infinite liberality especially in the numerous small plant and animal species as well as the microcosm of samples of all that is found in the Hereafter's truly vast worlds: the speedily operating workshop for eternal textiles the fast-changing place of copies of eternal scenes and the narrow temporary field and tillage rapidly producing seeds for permanent gardens (in the Hereafter).

Due to this immaterial greatness and importance with respect to art the wise Qur'an puts Earth on a par with the heavens although it is like a tiny fruit of a huge tree when compared with the heavens. It places Earth in one pan of a pair of scales and the heavens in the other and repeatedly says the "Lord of the heavens and Earth" [mentioning both together].[1]

The rapid and constant changes and transformations on Earth require that its inhabitants undergo corresponding changes. As this bounded Earth is the object of Divine Power's countless miracles the faculties of humanity and jinn are essentially unrestricted thereby allowing infinite progress and regress. A great field of trial and testing has opened for everyone from Prophets and saints to Nimrods and devils. Thus the endless evil of Pharaoh-like devils will make them attack the heavens and its inhabitants.

[1] Earth may be regarded as equal to the heavens for it may be argued that "a constant spring is greater than a lake with no inlet." Likewise a bushel may be seen to be in balance with a hill-sized amount of grain that has been measured with the bushel and heaped somewhere. It is exactly the same with Earth: God Almighty created it to exhibit the works of His art and manifest His Power as a garden where His Mercy flowers and as a field to cultivate the seeds of Paradise. It functions as a measure to fill and empty the universe of countless worlds of creation and resembles a spring flowing into the "seas" of the past and the World of the Unseen. Consider the "shirts" woven of creatures in countless forms that Earth changes each year. and the ever-renewed worlds with which Earth is filled each time and then pours into the past into the world of the Unseen. Consider all of these as present before your eyes and then compare Earth with the somewhat monotonous and plain heavens. You will see that even if Earth does not weigh more than the heavens. it certainly does not weigh less. From this you may understand the meaning of the Lord of the heavens and Earth.