Tafseer of The Star · An-Najm · 53:20
And Manat, the third - the other one?
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.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning wa-Manāta al-thālithata al-ukhrā ("and Manāt, the third, the other"), he said: As for Manāt, it was at Qudayd; these were gods whom they worshipped, namely al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word wa-Manāta al-thālithata al-ukhrā ("and Manāt, the third, the other"): Manāt was a sanctuary that was at al-Mushallal, which the Banū Kaʿb worshipped.
The philologists of Arabic differed concerning the manner in which one ought to pause at al-Lāt and Manāt (the form of the waqf). Some grammarians of Basra said: When you stop in silence, you say "al-Lāt," and likewise at Manāt you say "Manāt" (with a t-sound at the end).
And he said: Some of them said "al-Lātt" (with a doubled t), deriving it from al-latt, "he who rubs or crushes." It is a linguistic custom of the Arabs to pause, in words ending in a hāʾ, with a tāʾ; they say "raʾaytu Ṭalḥat" (I saw Ṭalḥa). With everything that is written with a hāʾ, they pause at it with a tāʾ, as in niʿmata rabbika ("the favor of your Lord") and shajarah ("tree"). Some grammarians of Kūfa paused at al-Lāt with a hāʾ: a-fa-raʾaytumu al-Lāh. Another among them said: The preference is that everything that does not stand in an iḍāfa construction is paused upon with a hāʾ, as in raḥmatun min rabbī ("a mercy from my Lord") and shajaratun takhruju ("a tree that comes forth"); and what does stand in iḍāfa, with it both the hāʾ and the tāʾ are permissible: the tāʾ because of the iḍāfa, and the hāʾ because it stands on its own and one pauses upon it apart from the second word. This third position is the most widespread and the most common linguistic form among the Arabs, even though the other form has a known basis. One of the experts of Arabic usage among the people of Basra said: Al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, the third, were idols of stone that were inside the Kaʿba and which they worshipped.
