contradiction in the Qur’an regarding the singular, dual and plural of the East and the West (Lord of the Easts and the Wests

 Content of the doubt:

Some ill-intentioned people claim that there is a contradiction between the words of God Almighty: “Lord of the East and the West - there is no god but He, so take Him as Disposer of affairs (9)” (Al-Muzzammil), and His words: “Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests (17)” (Al-Rahman), and His words: “So I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests - indeed, We are Able (40)” (Al-Ma’arij). They ask: How can the East and the West be expressed in the singular form once, in the dual form another time, and in the plural form a third time?! They aim behind that to say that the Qur’an is human, and to challenge its infallibility.   
   
The way to refute the doubt:
The Qur’an addresses all people at all levels; the illiterate, the educated, the ignorant, and the learned. Based on this, the following came:
1) The singular form is addressed to all people.
2) The dual form is addressed to those who have a share of culture.
3) The plural form is addressed to the world according to the laws of astronomy and the shape of the Earth.

Detail:
The Qur’an addresses all people, regardless of their level of knowledge:
Dr. Al-Bouti points out that the three formulas about the East and the West are complementary in scientific description, and there is no contradiction between them for anyone with the slightest insight. The Holy Qur’an addresses people in general at all levels: the illiterate and the ignorant, the educated and the specialized scholar. In order for each group of these to obtain what benefits them and is consistent with their level of culture and knowledge, divine wisdom dictated that the Qur’anic discourse should contain what is appropriate for the understanding of the ignorant and the illiterate, the educated and the scholar. This is the way the Qur’an always addresses people, and contrary to what the ignorant - or those who ignore - imagine, this is one of the clearest evidences of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an. Based on this, we find that:
1. The singular formula is addressed to the general public:
God Almighty says: “Lord of the East and the West. There is no god except Him, so take Him as Disposer of affairs (9)” (Al-Muzzammil). This is addressed to all people, regardless of their levels of knowledge. Because what is suitable to be addressed to the ignorant layman is not suitable to be addressed to those above him, and it includes the simple information that is visible to all people, which is that the sun has an east from which it rises every day, and it also has a west in which it sets, and the lowest level of culture does not differ in this.
2. The dual form is addressed to the educated:
God Almighty says: “Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests (17)” (Al-Rahman). This is a direct address to those who have enough culture to see the position of the sun on the earth or vice versa. These people know that whenever the sun rises, it is an east for those toward whom it is approaching, and an west for those from whom it has turned away. Just as this description applies to it when it rises in the east, the same description applies to it when it turns away in the west. So they are two easts and two wests[1], “or the verse of the dual is the east of summer and the east of winter and their west, or the east of the sun and the moon and their west”[2].
3. The plural form is addressed to the specialized scholars:
God Almighty says: “So I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests that We are indeed Able (40)” (Al-Ma’arij). This is addressed to those who have been given more knowledge of the laws of astronomy and the shape of the Earth. The noble verse tells us: The sun, wherever it is, is rising for those toward whom it is facing, and setting for those from whom it is turning.
Due to the Earth’s rotation around the sun, its rising is renewed for the people and countries that it rises upon a new time. It remains rising and setting, and thus the regions of the Earth are divided between the Easts and the Wests of the Earth without stopping. So they are Easts and Wests.
The Holy Verse also includes another meaning, which is that the Earth is visiting[3]About the sun between summer and winter, so that the sun gradually moves in multiple risings on the earth; so that the winter day is short, and gradually in the opposite direction; so that the summer day is long, so they are risings, that is: multiple risings of the sun between every summer and winter [4] .

Conclusion:
There is no contradiction between the words of God Almighty: “Lord of the East and the West. There is no god except Him, so take Him as Disposer of affairs (9)” (Al-Muzzammil); And the Almighty’s saying: “Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests (17)” (Ar-Rahman), and the Almighty’s saying: “So I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, that We are surely Able (40
)” (Al-Ma’arij); because the Holy Quran was not specific to a specific nation, but rather came for all people, with all their levels of knowledge. Based on this: · The Almighty’s saying: “Lord of the East and the West, there is no god but He, so take Him as Disposer of affairs (9)” (Al-Muzzammil), is suitable for all people regardless of their levels of knowledge; for the sun has an east from which it rises, and a west in which it sets.
· The Almighty’s saying: “Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests (17)” (Ar-Rahman), addresses those who have a share of culture and knowledge that makes them aware of the position of the sun on the earth, and vice versa.
· The Almighty’s saying: “So I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, that We are surely Able (40)” (Al-Ma’arij) addresses those whom God has blessed with knowledge of the laws of astronomy; for the sun’s rising is renewed for those upon whom it rises anew, And its sunset is also renewed for those who turn away from them. 

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[1]. Falsehood does not come to it, Dr. Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, Dar al-Fikr, Damascus, 1st ed., 1428 AH/2007 AD, pp. 39, 40.
[2]. Al-Bayan fi refutation of the imagined contradiction between the verses of the Qur’an, Dr. Muhammad Abu al-Nur al-Hadidi, Maktabat al-Amanah, Cairo, 1401 AH/1981 AD, p. 266.
[3]. Falsehood does not come to it, Dr. Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Buti, Dar al-Fikr, Damascus, 1st ed., 1428 AH/2007 AD, pp. 39, 40.
[4]. Tazawar: leaning and distancing.