54. Al-Qamar (The Moon)

Mecca Period 37

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:



اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ ...

54: 1.    The hour (of Judgment) is nigh,

C5127. See Para 2 of the Introduction to Surah 53.

The idea of the Judgment being nigh at the beginning of this Sura connects it with the same idea at the end of the last Surah (verse 57), though the actual words used in the two cases are different.

... وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ﴿١﴾

and the moon is cleft asunder.

C5128. Three explanations are given in the Mufradat, and perhaps all three apply here:

That the first was noticed by contemporaries, including Unbelievers, is clear from verse 2. The second is an incident of the disruption of the solar system at the New Creation: Cf. 75:8-9.

And the third might well be implied as in eastern allegory, based on the other two.

وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ ﴿٢﴾

54: 2.     But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say,

"This is (but) transient magic."

C5129. Mustamirr: continuous, or powerful; either meaning will apply.

The Unbelievers acknowledge the unusual appearance, but call it magic. They do not therefore profit by the spiritual lesson.

وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءهُمْ وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ مُّسْتَقِرٌّ ﴿٣﴾

54: 3.    They reject (the warning) and follow their (own) lusts but every matter has its appointed time.

C5130. The prevalence of sin and the persecution of truth may have its day, but it must end at last.


Asad’s Version:

54:1 THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is I split asunder! 1

(54:2) But if they [who reject all thought of the Last Hour] were to see a sign [of its approach], they would turn aside and say, "An ever-recurring delusion!" –

(54:3) for they are bent on giving it the lie, 2 being always wont to follow their own desires. Yet everything reveals its truth in the end. 3


[[Asad’s notes -

1 Most of the commentators see in this verse a reference to a phenomenon said to have been witnessed by several of the Prophet's contemporaries. As described in a number of reports going back to some companions, the moon appeared one night as if split into two distinct parts. While there is no reason to doubt the subjective veracity of these reports, it is possible that what actually happened was an unusual kind of partial lunar eclipse, which produced anequally unusual optical illusion. But whatever the nature of that phenomenon, it is practically certain that the above Qur'an-verse does not refer to it but, rather, to a future event: namely, to what will happen when the Last Hour approaches. (The Qur'an frequently employs the past tense to denote the future, and particularly so in passages which speak of the coming of the Last Hour and of Resurrection Day; this use of the past tense is meant to stress the certainty of the happening to which the verb relates.) Thus, Raghib regards it as fully justifiable to interpret the phrase inshaqqa '1-qamar ("the moon, is split asunder") as bearing on the cosmic cataclysm - the end of the world as we know it - that will occur before the coming of Resurrection Day (see art. shaqq in the Mufradat). As mentioned by Zamakhshari, this interpretation has the support of some of the earlier commentators; and it is, to my mind, particularly convincing in view of the juxtaposition, in the

above Qur'an-verse, of the moon's "splitting asunder" and the approach of the Last Hour. (In this connection we must bear in mind the fact that none of the Qur'anic allusions to the "nearness" of the Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection is based on the human concept of "time".)


2 Lit. , "they have given [it] the lie" : an allusion to the prediction of the Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection. The use of the past tense indicates conscious intent or determination (cf surah 2, note 6). For my rendering of sihr as "delusion", see surah 74, note 12.


3 Lit., "everything is settled in its [own] being": i.e., everything has an intrinsic reality (haqiqah) of its own, and is bound to reveal that reality either in this world or in the next (Baghawi, on the authority of al-Kalbi); hence, everything must have a purpose or "goal" of its own (Zamakhshari). These two - mutually complementary - interpretations reflect the repeated Qur'anic statement that everything that exists or happens has a meaning and a purpose: cf. 3:191, 10:5 and 38:27 (particularly, see note 1 1 on 10:5). In the present context, the phrase relates both to the truth referred to in the preceding verses and to its rejection by those who are "wont to follow [but] their own desires" . ]]