Stars [ buruj ]
6. [al-Anam, Cattle, Mecca 55]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَهُوَ
الَّذِي
جَعَلَ
لَكُمُ
النُّجُومَ
لِتَهْتَدُواْ
بِهَا
فِي
ظُلُمَاتِ
الْبَرِّ
وَالْبَحْرِ...
6: 97. It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea:
C922. See the last note.
At sea, or in the deserts or forests, or "in fairy scenes forlorn," -whenever we sweep over wide spaces, it is the stars that act as our guides, just as the sun and moon have already been mentioned as our measures of time
...قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٩٧﴾
We detail Our Signs for people who know.
Pickthall’s Version:
6: 97
Pickthall And He it is Who hath set for you the stars that ye may guide your course by them amid the darkness of the land and the sea We have detailed Our revelations for a people who have knowledge.
Transliteration Wa huwal lazi ja'ala lakumun nuju_ma litahtadu_ biha_ fi zulumatil barri wal bahr(i), qad fassalnal a_ya_ti liqaumiy ya'lamu_n(a).
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15. Surah al-Hijr
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
15: 16. It is We who have set out
C1949. Evil having been described, not as an external thing, but as a taint of the soul, we have in this section a glorious account of the purity and beauty of Allah's Creation.
Evil is a blot on it, not a normal feature of it. Indeed, the normal feature is the guard which Allah has put on it, to protect it from evil.
... فِي السَّمَاء بُرُوجًا وَزَيَّنَّاهَا لِلنَّاظِرِينَ ﴿١٦﴾
the Zodiacal Signs in the heavens, and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders;
C1950. In the countless millions of stars in the universe which we see, the first step in our astronomical knowledge is to find marvelous order, beauty, and harmony, on a scale of grandeur which we appreciate more and more as our knowledge increases.
The first broad belt that we distinguish is the Zodiac, which marks the sun's path through the heavens year after year and the limit of the wanderings of the moon and the planets.
We make twelve divisions of it and call them Signs of the Zodiac. Each marks the solar path through the heavens as we see it, month after month. We can thus mark off the seasons in our solar year, and express in definite laws the most important facts in meteorology, agriculture, seasonal winds, and tides.
Then there are the mansions of the moon, the mapping out of the Constellations, and the other marvelous facts of the heavens, some of which affect our physical life on this earth. But the highest lessons we can draw from them are spiritual.
The author of this wonderful Order and Beauty is One, and He alone is entitled to our worship.
15: 17. And (moreover) we have guarded them
C1951. Taking the physical heavens, we can imagine the supreme melody of harmony- guarded from every disturbing force. If by any chance any rebellious force of evil seeks to obtain, by stealth, a sound of that harmony to which all who make themselves constant are freely invited, it is pursued by a shooting star, for there can be no consonance between evil and good.
... مِن كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ رَّجِيمٍ ﴿١٧﴾
from every evil spirit accursed:
C1952. Rajim: driven away with stones, rejected, accursed.
Cf. 3:36.
إِلاَّ مَنِ
اسْتَرَقَ
السَّمْعَ ...
15: 18. But any that gains a hearing by stealth,
C1953. Cf. 72:8-9. [Eds.]
... فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿١٨﴾
is pursued by a flaming fire, bright (to see).
C1954. A shooting star.
Cf. 37:10.
15: 16
Asad And, indeed, We have set up in the heavens great constellations, and endowed them with beauty for all to behold;
Pickthall And verily in the heaven We have set mansions of the stars, and We have beautified it for beholders.
Transliteration Wa laqad ja'alna_ fis sama_'i buru_jaw wa zayyanna_ha_ lin na_zirin(a),
[ asad note 15: ( ‘buruj’ interpreted as constellation or stars by different authority) ]
15: 17
Pickthall And We have guarded it from every outcast devil,
Transliteration Wa hafizna_ha_ min kulli syaita_nir rajim(in),
[Asad note 16: The term shaytan (“satan”) – derived from the verb shatana (he was [of “became”] remote”) – often denotes in the Quran a force or influence remote from, and opposed to , all that is true and good (Taj al-Arus, Raghib): thus, for instance, in 2:14 it is used to describe the evil impulses (shayatin) within the hearts of “those who are bent on denying the truth”.
In its widest, abstract sense it denotes every “satanic force”, i.e. every impulsion directed towards ends which are contrary to valid ethical postulates. In the present context, the phrase “every satanic force accursed (rajim)” – like the phrase “every rebellious (marid) satanic force” in a similar context in 37:7 – apparently refers to endeavors, strongly condemned in Islam, to divine the future by means of astrological speculations: hence the preceding reference to the skies and the stars.
The statement that God has made the heavens “secure” against such satanic forces obviously implies that He has made it impossible for the latter to obtain, through astrological or what is popularly described as “occult sciences”, any real knowledge of “that which is beyond the reach of human perception” (al-ghayb). ]
15: 18
Asad so that anyone who seeks to learn [the unknowable] by stealth is pursued by a flame clear to see.
Pickthall Save him who stealeth the hearing, and them doth a clear flame pursue.
Transliteration Illa_ man-istaraqas sam'a fa atba'ahu_ syiha_bum mubin(un).
[Ruby’s note: Stealing means to get something that does rightfully belong to another without the owner’s consent and knowledge. The Ultimate mystery of the universe belong to God alone. One attempting to know the Ultimate truth without going through the right way of spiritual path and bypassing God in that pursuit may mean here ‘by stealth’: that is borrowing from some truth but then fabricating the rest to come up with an idea or explanation. Why then the mention of the flame, is this indication of physical something ? ]
Asad note 17: Lit., “excepting [or “except that”] anyone who seeks to hear by stealth……..”, etc. The implication seems to be that any attempt to fathoming the mysteries of the unknowable by such illicit means (”by stealth”) is inevitably followed by “a flame clear to see”, i.e. by burning, self-evident frustration. (Cf. also 37:10) ]
[Ali’s note 1953 Cf. lxxii. 8-9. (15.18) ,
A shooting star. Cf. xxxvii. 10. (15.18) ]
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16. [an-Nahl, Mecca 70]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَسَخَّرَ
لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ
وَالْنَّهَارَ
وَالشَّمْسَ
وَالْقَمَرَ...
16: 12. He has made subject to you the Night and the Day;
the Sun and the Moon;
C2031. The Night and the Day are caused by astronomical rotations.
What is important for man to note is how Allah has given intelligence to man to make use of this alternation for work and rest;
how man can, as soon as he rises from the primitive stage, get over their inequalities by artificial illuminants, such as vegetable or mineral oils, coal, gas, or electricity, which ultimately are derived from the stored-up energy of the sun;
how the sun's heat can be tempered by various artificial means and can be stored up for use by man as required, how man can be independent of the tides caused by the moon and the sun, which formerly controlled navigation, but which no longer stand in man's way, with his artificial harbours and great sea-going ships, how navigation was formerly subject to direct observation of the Polar Star and other stars, but how the magnetic needle and charts have now completely altered the position, and man can calculate and to a certain extent control magnetic variations, etc.
In such ways the sun, the moon, and the stars themselves become useful servants to him, all by Allah's gift and His Command, without which there would have been no laws governing them and no intelligence to make use of them.
... وَالْنُّجُومُ مُسَخَّرَاتٌ بِأَمْرِهِ...
and the Stars are in subjection by His Command:
... إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ﴿١٢﴾
verily in this are Signs for men who are wise.
Pickthall’s Version:
16: 12
Pickthall And he hath constrained the night and the day and the sun and the moon to be of service unto you, and the stars are made subservient by His command. Lo! herein indeed are portents for people who have sense.
Transliteration Wa sakhkhara lakummul laila wan naha_r(a), wasy syamsa wal qamar(a), wan nuju_mu musakhkhara_tum bi amrih(i), inna fi za_lika la a_ya_til liqaumiy ya'qilu_n(a),
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37.Sura as saffat
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّا
زَيَّنَّا
السَّمَاء
الدُّنْيَا
بِزِينَةٍ
الْكَوَاكِبِ
﴿٦﴾
37: 6. We have indeed decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars --
C4035. Cf. 72:8-9. (Eds.).
C4036. 'Stars' may be taken here in the popular sense, as referring to fixed stars, planets, comets, shooting stars, etc.
On a clear night the beauty of the starry heavens is proverbial. Here they are meant to illustrate two points:
- their marvelous beauty and their groupings and motions (apparent or real) manifest and typify the Design and Harmony of the One true Creator: and
- the power and glory behind them typify that there is a guard against the assaults of Evil (see verse 7 below).
Pickthall’s Version:
37: 6
Pickthall Lo! We have adorned the lowest heaven with an ornament, the planets:
Transliteration In na_ zay yan nas sama_ ad dun ya_ bizinatinil kawa_kib
[Ali’s note 4035 Cf. lxvii. 5, lxxii. 8-9. (37.6)
'Stars' may be taken here in the popular sense, as referring to fixed stars, planets, comets, shooting stars, etc. On a clear night the beauty of the starry heavens is proverbial. Here they are meant to illustrate two points: (1) their marvellous beauty and their groupings and motions (apparent or real) manifest and typify the Design and Harmony of the One true Creator: and (2) the power and glory behind them typify that there is a guard against the assaults of Evil (see verse 7 below). (37.6)]
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72. Surah Al Jinn
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَأَنَّا
لَمَسْنَا
السَّمَاء
فَوَجَدْنَاهَا
مُلِئَتْ حَرَسًا
شَدِيدًا
وَشُهُبًا ﴿٨﴾
72: 8. 'And we pried into the secrets of heaven;
but we found it filled with stern guards and flaming fires.
C5733. See notes 1951, 1953, and 1954 to 15:17-18.
See also n. 5562 to 67:5.
The speakers here have repented of sin and evil; but they recognize that there are evil ones among them, who have stealth and prying, but their dark plots will be defeated by vigilant guardians of the Right, whose repulse of the attacks of evil is figured by the shafts of meteoric light in the heavens.
وَأَنَّا
كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ
مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ
لِلسَّمْعِ ...
72: 9. 'We used, indeed, to sit there in (hidden) stations, to (steal) a hearing;
... فَمَن يَسْتَمِعِ الْآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رَّصَدًا ﴿٩﴾
but any who listens now will find a flaming fire watching him in ambush.
C5734. What is the force of "now"?
It refers to the early Makkan period of Revelation. It means that whatever excuse there may have been before, for people to try to seek out the hidden truths of the Unseen World through Jinns, there was none now, as the perspicuous Quran had restored the Message of Unity and cleared religion of all the cobwebs, mysteries, and falsehoods with which priestcraft and pious fraud had overlaid it.
The result is that such seekers after false hidden knowledge will find themselves confronted now by the flaming fire, which, like the shafts of meteoric light (see last note), will lie in wait for and nip such priestcraft and black magic in the bud.
وَأَنَّا
لَا نَدْرِي
أَشَرٌّ أُرِيدَ
بِمَن فِي
الْأَرْضِ ...
72: 10. 'And we understand not whether ill is intended to those on earth,
C5735. To these Jinns this gospel is yet new, and appears like a flaming sword which destroys falsehood while it protects Truth. They frankly confess that they do not clearly understand whether on the whole it will be a mercy to mankind or a punishment for mankind forsaking the paths of Allah. But they rightly feel that it must be a blessing if all seek right Guidance.
... أَمْ أَرَادَ بِهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ رَشَدًا ﴿١٠﴾
or whether their Lord (really) intends to guide them to right conduct.
Pickthall’s Version:
72: 8
Pickthall And (the Jinn who had listened to the Qur'an said): We had sought the heaven but had found it filled with strong warders and meteors.
Transliteration Wa an na_ lamasna sama_a fawajadna_ha_ muliat harasan sadidaw wa suhuba_
72: 9
Pickthall And we used to sit on places (high) therein to listen. But he who listened now findeth a flame in wait for him;
Transliteration Wa an na_ kun na_ naqudu minha_ maqa_ida lis sami famay yastami ila_na yajid lahu_ siha_bar rasa da_
72: 10
Pickthall And we know not whether harm is boded unto all who are in the earth, or whether their Lord intendeth guidance for them;
Transliteration Wa an na_la_ nadri asyar run urida biman fil ardi am ara_da bihim rabuhum rasada_
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Ayah 11 
Yusuf Ali `There are among us some that are righteous and some the contrary: we follow divergent paths.
Pickthall And among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that. We are sects having different rules.
Transliteration Wa an na_ min nas sa_lihu_na wamin na_ du_na za_lik kun na_ tara_iqa qida_da_
Ayah 12
Yusuf Ali `But we think that we can by no means frustrate Allah throughout the earth nor can we frustrate Him by flight.
Pickthall And we know that we cannot escape from Allah in the earth, nor can we escape by flight.
Transliteration Wa an na_ zanan na_ alan nuji zal la_ha fil ardi wa lan nujizahu_ haraba_
Ayah 13
Yusuf Ali `And as for us since we have listened to the Guidance we have accepted it: and any who believes in his Lord has no fear either of a short (account) or of any injustice.
Pickthall And when we heard the guidance, we believed therein, and whoso believeth in his Lord, he feareth neither loss nor oppression.
Transliteration Wa an na_ lam ma_ saminal huda_ a_man na_ bih famay yumin birabihi fala_ yaka_fu baksaw wa la_ rahaqa_
16: Ayah 16
Yusuf Ali And marks and signposts; and by the stars (men) guide themselves.
Pickthall And landmarks (too), and by the star they find a way.
Transliteration Wa 'ala_ma_t(in), wa bin najmi hum yahtadu_n(a).
16: Ayah 17
Yusuf Ali Is then He Who creates like one that creates not? Will ye not receive admonition?
Pickthall Is He then Who createth as him who createth not? Will ye not then remember?
Transliteration Afamay yakhluqu kamal la_ yakhluq(u), afala_ tazakkaru_n(a).