شَّمْسُ

13:16; 16:49-50; 55:7.

Commentary:

God has fixed certain laws—natural laws, which all created things, animate or inanimate, have to obey. There is no escape from submission to these laws. There are, however, certain other laws—the laws of the Shari‘ah—which God has made for the guidance of man. These laws man may obey or disobey and defy and thus may suffer the consequences of his defiance.

The verse further brings home to idolaters the folly and futility of their taking the objects of nature for worship besides Allah. It says that all these things depend upon Him for their very existence. They all submit to the laws He has fixed for them and cannot live independently of God for a moment. It is sheer folly, therefore, to adore and worship things and beings which are themselves subject to God-made laws. The expression یسجد له کثیر من الناس و کثیر حق علیه العذاب besides the meaning given in the text, may also mean that many from among men submit to Allah and many others incur His displeasure and punishment because they do not submit to laws made by Him.

6:97; 55:6.

Commentary:

In the spiritual realm the sun may represent a Law-bearing Prophet.

25:63.

21:34.

Important Words:

یسبحون (float) is derived from سبح which means, he swam. They say تسبح النجوم فی الفلک i.e. the stars swim, float or glide along swiftly in the firmament (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The reference in this verse is to the floating of the heavenly bodies through space or ether. The Quran contradicted the view held for a long time that the heavens were solid in their formation. It is characteristic of the Quran that it uses expressions which not only contradict erroneous religious beliefs and scientific views but also anticipate new discoveries in the domain of science and philosophy. It has revealed, in plain simple language, scientific truths which were unknown to the world at the time of its revelation and which even remained hidden for centuries afterwards. This alone constitutes sufficient proof that the Quran is the revealed Word of Him Who is the Supreme Source of all knowledge and from Whom nothing is hidden.

The verse also points to the excellent design and order that pervades the entire universe; all the celestial and terrestrial bodies performing their allotted tasks regularly, punctually and unerringly, without trespassing on one another’s sphere of action. "The solar system is but one of hundreds of millions of systems, some of which are incalculably larger than it. Yet the countless millions of suns and stars profusely scattered over the immense void are so arranged and distributed in relation to one another as to secure the safety of one and all and to produce everywhere harmony and beauty. Each orb is reflecting the orbit of every other, yet each proceeds safely on its destined way, and all united, form a glorious harmony of structure and motion." This immaculate design and perfect order pervading the universe unerringly points to a Designer and Controller behind it.

17:13; 36:38; 40:62.

Commentary:

The present and the next two verses furnish an argument in support of God’s Unity and Almightiness—two most important Divine attributes related to creation.

6:97; 10:6; 36:39-40.

Commentary:

See next verse.

Commentary:

The expression, "the sun and the moon are brought together" may signify that the whole solar system will be completely disrupted. Or the words may signify the destruction of the political power of the Arabs and of the Iranian dynasty, the moon being the symbol of the political power of the former and the sun that of the latter. Or the reference may be to the lunar and solar eclipses—a highly unusual phenomenon, which, according to a hadith was to occur in the time of the Promised Mahdi. The hadith is to the following effect: ان لمھدینا اٰیتین لم تکونا منذ خلق السموات و الارض الخ i.e. For our Mahdi there are two signs which have never been witnessed since the time when the heavens and the earth were created, viz. that the moon will be eclipsed on the first night and the sun on the second day in the month of Ramadan(Baihaqi). This meant that the day of the final triumph of Islam and that of the defeat and destruction of the forces of evil will dawn with the Mahdi’s appearance in the world. Strangely enough, both the sun and the moon were eclipsed in the month of Ramadan in 1894 after Ahmad, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement had made the claim that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.

Important Words:

کورت (wrapped up) is derived from کور. They say کور العمامة i.e. he wound round the turban upon his head. کورت الشمس means, the light of the sun became folded up or became dim or it disappeared or the sun became eclipsed (Aqrab). اذا الشمس کورتmeans, when the sun shall be wound with darkness like a turban; or when it shall be wrapped up and have its light taken away or shall lose its light; or shall be divested of its light; or shall be cast away. These are some of the meanings of the verse given by Jalalain, Qatadah, ‘Ikrimah and Mujahid as quoted by Lane.

Commentary:

It is generally said that this Surah deals with the Resurrection, when the laws and processes of nature as we know them, will cease to operate. But this does not appear to be plausible, the whole trend and tenor of the Surah speaks so patently of the conditions which obtain in the physical world that some of the verses will lose all sense if they are taken as referring to the Final Resurrection. In fact, the Surah speaks of the great changes that have taken place in the material world and in human life since the time of the Holy Prophet, particularly in our own time. The Surah thus makes a special reference to the present era—the era of the Promised Messiah. Some verses may equally be interpreted literally as well as metaphorically.

The Holy Prophet is described in the Quran as the Bright Sun (25:62). The verse, therefore, may mean: When there will be spiritual darkness all over the world—the light of the Spiritual Sun having become dim or having disappeared altogether. Or the verse may refer to the eclipse of the sun and the moon, which according to a well-known saying of the Holy Prophet, was to take place in the time of the Mahdi, a phenomenon that the world had never witnessed before (Qutni, p. 188). A reference to this is also to be found in 75:10. This predicted eclipse of the sun and the moon took place in 1894 in the month of Ramadan.