Tafseer of The Moon · Al-Qamar · 54:1
The Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two].
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ (54:1) ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder") (54:1).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His saying اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ ("The Hour has drawn near"): the Hour at which the Resurrection takes place has drawn near. His saying اقْتَرَبَتِ ("has drawn near") is the verb on the pattern "iftaʿalat" from [the root] "al-qurb" (nearness). This is, from the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, a warning to His servants of the nearness of the Resurrection and the nearness of the perishing of the world, and a command to them to prepare for the terrors of the Resurrection before it overtakes them, while they are in heedlessness of it and careless.
And His saying وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("and the moon has split asunder"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and the moon split apart. That occurred, according to what has been mentioned, in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he was in Mecca, before his emigration (hijra) to Medina. That was because the unbelievers among the people of Mecca asked him for a sign, and he ﷺ showed them the splitting of the moon as a sign and proof of the truthfulness of his word and the reality of his prophethood. When he showed it to them, they turned away and denied it, and said: This is continuous sorcery; Muḥammad has bewitched us. Then Allah, whose praise is exalted, said: وَإِنْ يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُسْتَمِرٌّ ("And if they see a sign, they turn away and say: continuous sorcery").
And in accordance with what we have said about that the reports have come, and thus the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of the reports transmitted concerning this, and the statements of those of the people of interpretation who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, "that Anas ibn Mālik narrated to them that the people of Mecca asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to show them a sign, and he showed them the splitting of the moon, twice."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Qatāda transmitting, on the authority of Anas, he said: the moon split into two pieces.
Ibn al-Muthannā and al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Yaḥyā al-Maqdisī related to us, both of them saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: I heard Anas saying: "The moon split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
Yaʿqūb al-Dawraqī related to me, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: I heard Anas saying: and he mentioned the same.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, he said: "The moon split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, twice."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, "that the people of Mecca asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to show them a sign, and he showed them the moon in two pieces, until they saw [the mountain of] Ḥirāʾ between them."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "The moon split while we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Minā, until a piece of it disappeared behind the mountain, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Bear witness!"
Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl related to me, saying: al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl al-Māzinī related to us, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān, he said: I heard Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "The moon split in two in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; one piece was on the mountain and one piece behind it, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: O Allah, bear witness!"
Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: al-Naḍr related to us, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, the same as the report of Ibrāhīm concerning the moon.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, saying: my uncle Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Minā, and the moon split, and a piece disappeared behind the mountain, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Bear witness!"
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "I saw the mountain through the split of the moon when it split."
al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā al-Maqdisī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "The moon split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and Quraysh said: This is sorcery of the son of Abī Kabsha; he has bewitched you; ask the travelers. Then they asked them, and they said: Yes, we have seen it. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, sent down: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder")."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, he said: "The splitting of the moon has already occurred."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq, he said: ʿAbdallāh said: "Five [things] have already passed: the smoke (al-dukhān), the inevitable punishment (al-lizām), the seizing (al-baṭsha), the moon (al-qamar), and the Romans (al-Rūm)."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad, he said: it was reported to me that Ibn Masʿūd used to say: The moon has already split.
He said: Ibn ʿUlayya informed us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib informed us, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, he said: "We encamped at al-Madāʾin, and we were at a distance of one farsakh from it. Then Friday came, and my father was present, and I was present with him. Then Ḥudhayfa delivered the sermon to us and said: Verily, Allah says اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"). Verily, the Hour has already drawn near; verily, the moon has already split; verily, the world has announced its farewell; verily, today is the training (al-miḍmār) and tomorrow is the race (al-sibāq). I said to my father: Are the people going to hold a race tomorrow? He said: O my son, you are indeed ignorant; it is only the race with the [good] deeds. Then the following Friday came, and we were present, and Ḥudhayfa delivered the sermon and said: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"). Verily, the Hour has already drawn near; verily, the moon has already split; verily, the world has announced its farewell; verily, today is the training and tomorrow is the race; verily, the final goal is the Fire, and the foremost is he who first reaches the Garden (janna)."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, he said: "I was with my father at al-Madāʾin. Then their commander delivered the sermon — and ʿAṭāʾ used to transmit that it was Ḥudhayfa — and he said concerning this verse: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"): The Hour has already drawn near and the moon has split; the Hour has already drawn near and the moon has split; today is the training and tomorrow is the race, and the foremost is he who first reaches the Garden, and the final goal is the Fire. He said: Then I said to my father: Tomorrow is the race? He said: and he informed him of it."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, on the authority of his father, he said: "The moon split while we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Khārija, on the authority of al-Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Ibn Jubayr, on the authority of his father وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("and the moon has split asunder"): he said: it split while we were in Mecca.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAskar related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Ṣāliḥ and ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to us, both of them saying: Bakr ibn Muḍar related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of ʿIrāk, (5) on the authority of ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUtba, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "The moon split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "The moon split before the hijra," or he said: "that has already passed."
Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to us, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, in a similar manner.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"): he said: that has already passed; it was before the hijra; it split until they saw its two halves.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder") ... up to His saying سِحْرٌ مُسْتَمِرٌّ ("continuous sorcery"): he said: that has already passed; the moon was split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca, and the polytheists turned away and said: continuous sorcery.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"): he said: they saw it split.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr and Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"): he said: the moon split into two halves; one half remained fixed in place, and one half disappeared behind the mountain, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Bear witness!"
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: "The moon split in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and became two pieces, and the Prophet ﷺ said to Abū Bakr: Bear witness, O Abū Bakr! Then the polytheists said: The moon has been bewitched, so that it split."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, he said: a man came to al-Madāʾin, stood up and said: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"), and verily, the moon has already split, and the world has announced its farewell; today is the training and tomorrow is the race and [there is] the foremost. He who first reaches the Garden — and the final goal is the Fire.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder"): Allah brings about among His creatures what He wills.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, he said: the people of Mecca asked the Prophet ﷺ for a sign, and the moon split at Mecca twice, and he said: اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split asunder").
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His saying وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ ("and the moon has split asunder"): that has already passed; the splitting occurred in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca, and the polytheists turned away from it and said: continuous sorcery.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: the splitting of the moon passed at Mecca.
----------------------
The footnotes:
(5) In "al-Tāj" it is recorded with the vowel-form of [the pattern] "kitāb".
