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The main purpose of this article is to depict the cosmos according to the plain text of the Qur'an, as its contemporary interlocutor would understand it. To reach this goal we relied mostly on the literary meaning of the qur'änic descriptions of the celestial and terrestrial elements, along with a glance at the other preceding and/or contemporary cosmologies. It is, therefore, a comparative study which ends up in a thorough picture of the cosmos according to the text of the Qur'an commensurable with other ancient cosmologies, namely the Babylonian and biblical ones. The most significant outcome of this article is to cast doubt on the prevalent supposition that the qur'änic cosmology is nothing more than a cento of the preceding cultures, civilizations or religions. It would claim that the Qur'an has rather had an active and dialectic interaction with every major or minor cosmological idea of its time. Especially in a case study on the shape of the qur'änic firmament, it will be shown how the historical circumstances, linguistic matters, and ideological issues influenced the qur'änic perception of the world and/or its selective manner in gleaning the preceding ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]