Buruj – Great Constellations

26. [al-Furqan, Mecca 42]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاء بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا ﴿٦١﴾

25:61. Blessed is He Who made Constellations in the skies, and placed therein a Lamp and a Moon giving light;

C3121. The glorious Lamp of the skies is the Sun; and next to him is the Moon, which gives borrowed light.

The Constellations of course include the Signs of the Zodiac, which mark the path of the planets in the heavens.

وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً...

25:62. And it is He Who made the Night and the Day to follow each other:

... لِّمَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يَذَّكَّرَ أَوْ أَرَادَ شُكُورًا ﴿٦٢﴾

for such as have the will to celebrate His praises or to show their gratitude.

C3122. The scenes of the phenomenal world are Signs of the Self-Revelation of Allah, for those who understand and who have the will to merge their wills in His. This they do;

- by praising Him, which means understanding something of His nature, and

- by gratitude to Him, which means carrying out His Will, and doing good to their fellow-creatures.

These two attitudes of mind and heart give rise to various consequences in their lives, which are detailed in the following verse.

Asad’s Version:

25:61 HALLOWED is He who has set up in the skies great constellations, and has placed among them a [radiant] lamp and a light-giving moon. 48

(25:62) And He it is who causes the night and the day to succeed one another, [revealing Himself in His works] unto him who has the will to

take thought - that is," has the will to be grateful.

[[ Asad’s note - 48 See 10:5, where the sun if spoken of as "a (source of) radiant light", explained in the corresponding note 10. For my rendering of buruj as "great constellations", see note 15 on 15:16. ]]