Tafseer of The Overthrowing · At-Takwir · 81:15
So I swear by the retreating 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: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I truly swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"). The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning (al-khunnas * al-jawārī al-kunnas). Some of them said: they are the five bright planets, which withdraw (takhnis) in their course, then return and conceal themselves (taknis), so that they hide in their houses just as the gazelles conceal themselves in their dens. And the five stars are: Bahrām (Mars), Zuḥal (Saturn), ʿUṭārid (Mercury), al-Zuhara (Venus), and al-Mushtarī (Jupiter).
* Mention of who said that:
Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿUrʿura, that a man stood up before ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — and said: what are الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("those which move on and conceal themselves")? He said: they are the celestial bodies.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, saying: I heard Khālid ibn ʿUrʿura, saying: I heard ʿAlī — peace be upon him — when he was asked about لا أُقْسِمُ بالخُنَّسِ * الجَوَارِ الكُنَّسِ ("I swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: they are the stars which withdraw by day and conceal themselves by night.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿUrʿura, on the authority of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — he said: the stars.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man of Murād, on the authority of ʿAlī, that he said: do you know what al-khunnas are? They are the stars which move on by night and withdraw by day.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim related to me, that he heard al-Ḥasan being asked something; it was said: O Abū Saʿīd, what are al-jawārī al-kunnas? He said: the stars.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Hawdha ibn Khalīfa related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, concerning his statement: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I truly swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: they are the bright stars which move on toward the direction of the east.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: they are the stars.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man of Murād, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — concerning فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I truly swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: he means the stars which conceal themselves by day and appear by night.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I truly swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: they are the stars which appear by night and withdraw by day.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his statement: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I truly swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: they are the stars which withdraw by day; and al-jawārī al-kunnas: their moving on when they set.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his statement: أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("I swear by the receding stars, which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: al-khunnas and al-jawārī al-kunnas: they are the receding stars; they withdraw and lag behind in their rising — they lag behind each year; each year they have a lagging, in that that rising is not brought forward, and they withdraw from it. And al-kunnas: they conceal themselves by day, so that they are not seen. He said: and al-jawārī move on thereafter; these, then, are al-khunnas al-jawārī al-kunnas.
And others said: they are the wild cattle which conceal themselves in their hiding places.
* Mention of who said that:
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Hushaym ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾida, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, on the authority of Abū Maysara, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, that he said to Abū Maysara: what are al-jawārī al-kunnas? He said: then he said: the wild cattle. He said: then he (Ibn Masʿūd) said: and so I see it too.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū Maysara, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning his statement: الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ ("those which move on and conceal themselves"), he said: the wild cattle.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuraḥbīl, he said: Ibn Masʿūd said: O ʿAmr, what are al-jawārī al-kunnas, or: how do you see them? ʿAmr said: I see them as the cattle. ʿAbd Allāh said: and I too see them as the cattle.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū Maysara, he said: I asked ʿAbd Allāh about it, and he mentioned something similar.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Mundhir related to me, saying: I asked Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ Jābir ibn Zayd about al-jawārī al-kunnas, he said: they are the cattle when they conceal themselves in their hiding places.
Yūnus said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb said to me: they are the cattle when they flee from the wolves; that is what he meant by his statement: they concealed themselves in their hiding places.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Jarīr said, and al-Ṣalt ibn Rāshid related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
