Al-Anaam (6:125): Those whom God (in His plan) willeth to guide,- He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying,- He maketh their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth God (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe.
A possible reason why Allah chose to say ‘as if they had to climb up the skies’ is revealed by science. As you go up to the mountain or a higher place the rate of oxygen decreases, causing difficulty in breathing. Mountain climbers carry oxygen tanks in order to get sufficient oxygen. This fact can be found in God’s 1400 year old book.
Quran 24:40
*Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covereth him a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layer upon layer of darkness. When he holdeth out his hand he scarce can see it. And he for whom Allah hath not appointed light, for him there is no light. *
that tells u a lot about oceans....
one of my friends, a rich guy, says that when he goes diving, he can really feel this layer upon layer of darnkess as the light spectrum loses one color after the other....
and the fish at the end of the spectrum where no light exists, have their own light given to them by Allah, like a torch on their head....
and "wave, above which is a wave" is something that ppl might have laughed at....
how can there be a wave upon another wave....
but now we have been shown that it exists....
and for those who never knew about it, the disaster in south asia happened because of this hidden wave....
breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies<<
how does this translate into low oxygen at high altitudes? here's a hint: at high altitudes, your lungs and alveoli open out even more than at sea level, thanks to the low atmospheric pressure.
True Queer, but as a human ascends higher and higher, at some point, our human adaptations would not be able to compensate for the low oxygen. So, yeah, we can climb a mountain and be at the top of the highest mountain. (Although it would be interesting to hear what mtn climbers have to say about their ability to breath at such high heights). Nonetheless, I do not think humans have the capability to live at such high heights (I'm talking Mt. Everest) permanently. I don't know if we're adapted enough. Or at least, if you picked someone up that is used to living at sea level, they would probably feel an impact. Now if you go higher than mt. everest, the air pressure and the oxygen levels would not allow us to be "out and about". Otherwise, wouldn't airplanes have a open-air sunbathing deck?
And as to how a tsunami is a wave above a wave - that's simple. Each water particle is traveling in a wave in a tsunami. If you go in a line vertically from the surface of the water down, each particle in this verticle wave is travelling together simultaneously. But each particle has its own wave motion. So imagine a stack of balls on top of one another in a huge verticle line. They are moving together, but each particle is in its own wave path.
my village back home has a mountain 10,000 ft above sea level. When my twin cousins (athletic and sprinters in school teams) would come visit, I would take them to the top of the mountain and tell them to dash 100 meters and they would be out of breath. I don't know much about low or high oxygen but air at higher elevations is thin. The mountaineers acclimate to higher heights. What that means is that they will setup camp at higher elevations and then move up and down from base to lets say camp 1, after a few days or weeks they will setup camp2 and repeat back and forth exercise between camp 2 and camp1.
Climbing a 32,000 ft Everest or 31,000 K2 is a days event but when you bring in air factor and ice, snow, acclimation etc it becomes a one month long trip.
It's funny that you brought this verse up 'cause no Bull but I read the same verse just the other day and thought about the wisdom provided to us in Quran. It's just a matter of searching and applying.
PCG