Tafseer of The Constellations · Al-Burooj · 85:1
By the sky containing great 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.
The ruling on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted — exalted be His praise and hallowed be His names: وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ ("By the heaven with its constellations") (1).
Abū Jaʿfar, may Allah have mercy on him, said: His statement وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ — Allah, exalted be His praise, swore by the heaven with the burūj (constellations/towers).
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of the burūj in this place. Some of them said: by this is meant: by the heaven with the castles. They said: the burūj are the castles.
* Mention of those who said that:
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: وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ — Ibn ʿAbbās said: castles in the heaven. Another said: no, they are the stars.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words: الْبُرُوجِ — they claim that they are castles in the heaven, and it is said: they are the stars.
And others said: by this is meant: by the heaven with the stars; and they said: its stars are its burūj.
* Mention of those 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 concerning the statement of Allah: ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ , he said: the burūj are the stars.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ: وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ , he said: the stars.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ — and its burūj are its stars.
And others said: no, the meaning of this is: by the heaven with sand and water.
* Mention of those who said that:
Al-Ḥasan ibn Qazaʿa related to me, saying: Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn, concerning His words: وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ , he said: with sand and water.
And the most correct of the statements concerning this is that one says: the meaning of this is: by the heaven with the dwelling-places of the sun and the moon. That is so because the burūj is the plural of burj, and these are dwelling-places that are constructed high above the earth and elevated. To this belongs the statement of Allah: وَلَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُشَيَّدَةٍ ("even if you are in solidly built towers") — these are elevated, lofty dwelling-places. And in the heaven there are twelve burūj; the passage of the moon through each of them lasts two and a third days, which are twenty-eight stations (manāzil), after which it remains invisible for two nights; and the passage of the sun through each of them lasts a month.
