Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:75
Then I swear by the setting of the stars,
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.
His statement: fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm ("But no, I swear by the places where the stars fall"). The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the interpretation of His statement fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm. Some of them said: by His statement fa-lā uqsimu ("no, I do not swear") is meant: I swear.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning fa-lā uqsimu, he said: I swear.
And some of the philologists of Arabic said: the meaning of His statement fa-lā is: it is not as you say; then the oath begins anew, and it is said: I swear.
His statement: bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm ("by the places where the stars fall"). The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of that. Some of them said: its meaning is: no, I swear by the places of the sending down of the Qurʾān. They said: the Qurʾān was sent down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in separate portions (nujūm, "stars").
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the Qurʾān descended on the Night of Decree (laylat al-qadr) from the highest heaven to the lowest heaven, all of it at once; then it was divided into portions in the years thereafter. He said: and Ibn ʿAbbās recited this verse fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: it descended in separate parts.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His statement: fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: Allah sent the Qurʾān down in portions: three verses, four verses, and five verses.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima: the Qurʾān descended all at once, and was placed at the positions of the stars; and Jibrīl brought a sūra at a time. And in reality it descended all at once on the Night of Decree.
Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: it is the unambiguous (muḥkam) part of the Qurʾān.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd 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, his statement: fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm * wa-innahu la-qasamun law taʿlamūna ʿaẓīm, he said: it is the place of establishment of the Book, its beginning and its end.
And others said: no, its meaning is: no, I swear by the setting-places of the stars.
* Mention of who said that:
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 of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his statement: bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: in the heaven; and it is said: their rising-places and their setting-places.
Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his statement: fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, that is: their setting-places.
And others said: no, its meaning is: by the positions of the stars.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: by the positions of the stars.
And others said: no, its meaning is: by the scattered disintegration of the stars at the coming of the Hour.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: fa-lā uqsimu bi-mawāqiʿi al-nujūm, he said: al-Ḥasan said: their collapsing and scattered disintegration on the Day of Resurrection.
The most correct of the statements concerning this is the statement of the one who said: its meaning is: no, I swear by the setting-places of the stars and their places of vanishing in the heaven. That is because al-mawāqiʿ is the plural of mawqiʿ, and mawqiʿ is a mafʿil-form from waqaʿa yaqaʿu mawqiʿan; the most common of its meanings and the clearest of its interpretation is what we have said concerning it, and therefore we have said: that is the most fitting of its meanings.
The reciters differed in the reading of that. The general reciters of Kūfa read it as bi-mawqiʿ in the singular, and the general reciters of Medina and Basra and some of the Kūfans read it as bi-mawāqiʿ in the plural.
And the correct ruling concerning this is that they are two well-known readings with one and the same meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he does correctly.
