17. The textual word “buruj” (sing, burj) has been explained as stars by Mujahid and Qatadah (Ibn Jarir). But others of the Salaf have said that the allusion is to sun and moon orbits (Ibn Kathir). Many others explained it as the twelve constellations which stood for twelve spheres of the zodiac (Razi and Alusi). On the other hand Taj al-`Arus offers the meaning as “great constellation.” Baghawi, Baydawi and (even) Ibn Kathir are with him (Asad).

Until the development of modern cosmology, the term “buruj” referred to groups of stars in various parts of the cosmos, some twelve of them.

18. Bukhari has a hadith explaining this verse. Reported by Abu Hurayrah it says, “When Allah decrees an affair in the heavens, angels flutter their wings at His Command. That makes a noise similar to the noise of (an iron) chain struck against a rock. When they are out of fright they ask, ‘What did your Lord say?’ Others reply, ‘He spoke the truth. He is the Most High, the Most Great.’ Those (of the Satans) who try to steal a hearing also try to hear. They pile themselves upon one another (rising to the heaven). A fiery flame is shot at the one on top. Sometimes it burns him, at others it misses him, and he is able to pass on the word to the one next, until the news is brought down to the earth. There it is passed on to one of the soothsayers who add a hundred lies (and spreads it among the people); so that, when something comes true, it is said (by the people), ‘Did he not tell us that on such and such a day, such and such a thing will come to pass? It has come true and confirms the news we received from the heavens,” (shortened) - Ibn Kathir.

The descending of Allah’s word of command, adds Shabbir, happens in stages, from heaven to heaven, downward. It is at the bottom-most heaven, the one closest to the earth, (in fact, according to one report in Bukhari, in the clouds), that the devils try to eavesdrop, in the fashion of secret agencies trying to eavesdrop on (electronic) messages exchanged by the humans.

To the question, “can anyone with the littlest intelligence, ever attempt to steal a hearing when he knows that he might get burned?” The answer is, can anyone with the littlest intelligence ever attempt to be high on drugs when he knows that it will burn out his body and mind? How do we explain the millions in our times who pay no heed? Or, can we explain people climbing high mountains, with fifty percent chance of losing their lives? Who can say what fun or pleasure the eavesdropping has for the Satans? Further, in common usage the textual word “shihab” is for (i) a bright flame, (ii) a bright burning piece of wood, and (iii) asteroids and meteorites. The allusion here is only to the first meaning, viz., “a bright flame.” Nor, should it be assumed that every bright flame visible in the constellation is the “shihab” of the Qur’an. In fact, the “shihab” aimed at the Jinn might not be visible to us at all, just as the Jinn are not visible to us, although made of flame (Au.).

19. Although round, for all practical purposes the earth is stretched out flat for us human beings. However, Qatadah has said that Makkah is the “umm al-qura” (mother of all towns) starting from where the rest of the earth was stretched (Alusi and others). The textual word of Qatadah’s usage “duhiyat”, has the linguistic connotation of being “folded in” to a round shape. That is, with Makkah as the starting point, the rest of the earth was created in a round shape, stretched around it.

But there is the spiritual aspect. Every town is infested with Shirk barring Makkah which is kept free of it. If Shirk enters this town, it will be a sign of end of the world (Au.).

20. The textual “rasiyat” is literally pegs, and the reference is to mountains, with the clear allusion to the fact that the mountains are pitched into the surface of the earth, just as pegs (of a tent, for example). In fact, just as pegs are more inside the ground than out, greater part of the mountains are also, according to latest findings, inside the earth. For more details, see Surah Al-Naba’, note 4 of this work (Au.).

21. The second part of the verse could also mean, “We also provided you with those that you do not provide for; such as, your dependents. You think you provide them. But you do not. It is We who do” (Zamakshari and others).

Two notes of Yusuf Ali could be combined together: “And every kind of thing is produced on the earth in due balance and measure. The mineral kingdom supports the vegetable and they in their turn support the animal, and there is a link of mutual dependence between them. Excess is eliminated. The waste of one is made the food of another, and vice versa. And this is a chain of gradation and inter-dependence... ‘We provide sustenance of every kind, physical, mental, spiritual, etc., for you. But We do more. We provide for everyone of Our creatures. And there are those of which mankind is not even cognizant. We provide for them also. There are those who may at first sight appear hostile to man, or whom man may consider hostile, such as wild and noxious animals. They are Our creatures, and We provide for them also, as they are Our creatures. But there is due order and balance in the economy of Our universal Plan.’”

22. As Allah (swt) said elsewhere (42: 27),

وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَكِنْ يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ [الشورى : 27]

“If Allah were to extend the provision (excessively) for His slaves, surely they would commit tyranny in the land. But rather He sends down in measures as He will” (Shawkani).

‘Abdullah ibn Mas`ud said, “There is not any land that receives greater amount of rain than another, but Allah sends it down in known measures,” then he recited this verse, “And, there is not a thing but We have treasures of it, sending it not but in known measure.” The words in another version are, “No year it rains more than the previous year. But Allah spreads it around, sometimes in one region, and at others in other regions” (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

Also, Ibn ‘Abbas has said, in a report preserved by Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim, “Rains have not decreased since the time Allah sent them down for the first time, rather, sometimes it rains more in a place than in another” (Shawkani).

Scientifically correct, the above statement leaves one curious about the source of such knowledge in those antiquated times (Au.).

23. “Lawaqih” is the plural of “laqih” (from laqaha: to impregnate), since “riyah” is plural. One meaning is that the allusion is to such winds as are productive and fruitful, as against those that are unproductive (‘aqim), mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an. Another is that the word is in the sense of impregnator, or fertilizer. The winds impregnate both the clouds as well as trees. That is how ‘Abdullah ibn Mas`ud understood it. However, Ibn ‘Abbas, Dahhak and others thought that the allusion is to the seeding of the clouds (Zamkhshari, Ibn Jarir).

Ibn Kathir adds: ‘Ubayd b. ‘Umary al-Laythi said, “Allah sends the winds. They sweep the earth in a thoroughgoing fashion. Then He sends them as stirrers that stir up clouds. Then He sends those winds that help in cloud formation. Then He sends the impregnators that impregnate (the cloud) and the trees.”

Once again, the description, a millennium and a half years old, comes so close to modern scientific description that it leaves us wondering about the source of knowledge. After all, those were days when followers of other religions thought that God had buckets of water that He threw down on the earth as rains (Au.).

24. A metaphorical usage meaning that He is the true Owner and Possessor to whom things return after His creations have used them (Au.).

25. That is, He knows those who have passed away as well as those who are yet in their father’s loins (Ibn ‘Abbas and others). However, in a second opinion, Ibn ‘Abbas thought the immediate reference was to those who prayed in the last of the male rows in order to look at an extremely beautiful woman in the first row for women. There were others who prayed in the front row in order to avoid seeing her. In other words, there was an immediate reference, and a general meaning (of preceding and following nations), which fits into the context (Ibn Jarir). Ibn Kathir points out that the report about the beautiful woman is in Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah, but he is not comfortable with the chain of narrators, (although trusted by Ahmad and Abu Da’ud, but not so by Yahya b. Abi Ma`in), and, therefore, prefers the general meaning. In any case, writes Alusi, a rule of Qur’anic exposition says, ‘the general meaning overrides the immediate reference.’ Therefore, adds ‘Uthmani, the allusion could as well be to both of the above expressed interpretations, as well as to a third meaning, viz., ‘those who overtake others in good deeds and those who lag behind.’