Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:61
Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted and Praised says: Exalted and sanctified is the Lord Who has made constellations (burūj) in the heaven. By constellations (burūj) He means: palaces (quṣūr), in the opinion of some.
The narration of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā, and Salm ibn Junādah related to us, they said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs related to us, he said: I heard my father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyyah ibn Saʿd, concerning His word تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا (Blessed is He Who has made constellations in the heaven): he said: "palaces in the heaven, in which the watchers reside."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Muʿāwiyah related to me, he said: Ismāʿīl related to me, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Rāfiʿ, concerning His word تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا (Blessed is He Who has made constellations in the heaven): he said: "palaces in the heaven."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm — جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا (Who has made constellations in the heaven): he said: "palaces in the heaven."
Ismāʿīl ibn Sayf related to me, he said: ʿAlī ibn Musahhar related to me, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا (Blessed is He Who has made constellations in the heaven): he said: "palaces in the heaven, in which the watchers reside."
And others said: they are the great stars.
The narration of those who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd related to us, he said: Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ — تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا (Blessed is He Who has made constellations in the heaven): he said: "the great stars."
He said: al-Ḍaḥḥāk related to us, on the authority of Mukhlid, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: he said: "the planets (kawākib)."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word بُرُوجًا (constellations): he said: "the constellations are the stars."
Abū Jaʿfar says: The more correct of the two opinions concerning this is the opinion of the one who said that they are palaces in the heaven, for that is the meaning used in Arabic — وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ (even if you were in lofty towers) — and the word of al-Akhṭal: "As though it were a Byzantine tower (burj), built by a builder with gypsum, fired brick, and rocks." By al-burj he means: the palace.
His word: وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا (and He placed therein a lamp) — the Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of this. The majority of the reciters of Medina and Basra read it as وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا in the singular (tawḥīd), and explained its meaning thus: that He placed therein the sun, and that is the lamp (al-sirāj) which they intended.
As al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُنِيرًا (and He placed therein a lamp and a luminous moon): he said: "the lamp is the sun."
And the majority of the Kufan reciters read it as "wa-jaʿala fīhā surūjan" in the plural (jamāʿ), as though they understood its meaning thus: and He placed therein stars وَقَمَرًا مُنِيرًا (and a luminous moon), and they regarded the stars as lamps (surūj) since one orients oneself by them.
And the correct position concerning this is, in my view, that they are two well-known readings in the recitation of the various regions (amṣār), each of which has an intelligible aspect; whichever of the two the reciter reads, he is correct.
And His word وَقَمَرًا مُنِيرًا (and a luminous moon) — by al-munīr (luminous) He means: giving light (muḍīʾ).
