al-Wāqi‘ah

فَلَآ اُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِعِ النُّجُومِ

وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ

إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ

فِي كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ

75. Therefore, I swear by the place of the stars and their places of rising and setting.

76. And indeed that is a great oath, if you but know.

77. That is verily an Honorable Qur’an.

78. Which is in the well-preserved Tablet.

The blessed Verses in question treat of the significance of the Glorious Qur’an, since the questions of Prophethood and Revelation of the Holy Qur’an, in terms of doctrinal fundamentals, stand second in significance to the questions of Creation and Resurrection. Furthermore, the Holy Qur’an treats of profound discussions in the domains of the principles of Divine Unity and Resurrection thereby it forms the solid bases of the same. The blessed Verses in this series open with a great oath, saying:

"Therefore, I swear by the place of the stars and their places of rising and setting."

The majority of Qur’an exegetes maintain that the Arabic particle la is herein employed in the sense of an emphatic particle rather than the negative particle, as it is attested in other blessed Qur’anic Verses regarding oaths taken to the Day of Resurrection, the concupiscent soul, the Lord of easts and wests, and the like. It is worthy of note that the Arabic phrase mawaqi‘ al-nujum designates the resting place and motion of stars, since the oath taken to the course of celestial bodies is far more significant than that taken to them per se, as the greatness and vastness of the places of rest for stars are thousands times more than planets.

Today, it is known to us that each of the stars has its own fixed place and their orbits are determined and precisely calculated by the law of gravity and repellence and the velocity of their courses is determined by a specific order. Although it is not possible to make precise calculations regarding remote planets, but the same is quite possible regarding the celestial bodies of the solar system and the order of their orbits is astoundingly precise.

Paying attention to the fact that according to scientists, there exist approximately one thousand million stars and planets in our galaxy and the fact that there are many galaxies in the world each of which follow a certain course, the significance of this Qur’anic oath is further clarified. Astronomers maintain (and it is reflected in the Book of Allah and tradition sources) that these celestial bodies, whose number exceeds billions and solely some of which are visible and may be photographed by using astronomical equipment like telescopes, all move in their specific orbits and they may not transgress the gravitation of others and cause collisions.

Such scientific discoveries further clarify the significance of the aforesaid oath. Thus, the Holy Qur’an proceeds to say that

"and indeed that is a great oath, if you but know."

The Arabic verbal form law ta‘lamun ("if you know") clearly reflects that human knowledge at that time failed to fully comprehend the fact in question and it is regarded as one of the scientific miracles of the Holy Qur’an, since at that time some people still considered stars as silver nails driven into the firmament. Thus, such expression is that milieu which is termed the age of ignorance is quite extraordinary. Now let us turn to the reason lying behind such great oath. The reason is to be found in the blessed Verse 77:

"That is verily an Honorable Qur’an."

Thus, obdurate polytheists persisting in believing that such blessed Verses were a kind of soothsaying and they sprang from madness, or they had been inspired by devils as they thought that poets at the time were thus inspired, but the Holy Qur’an is saying that the blessed Verses are Divine Revelation reflecting greatness and originality and their contents indicate that they are Revealed by God Almighty. It is quite evident and one is needless to provide arguments for the same. The Attribute karim employed for the Glorious Qur’an refers to God Almighty, the Most Generous and the Most Benevolent and the same attribute also designates a human virtue.

The Arabic word also reflects the great merits of the Holy Qura’n and its eloquence and rhetorical figures as well as its interesting contents; since it is revealed by the Lord Who is the Origin of perfection and beauty. God Almighty is the Origin of the Revelation as well as the Goal of the Holy Qur’an. The blessed Verse 78 treats of the Attributes of the Holy Qur’an, saying:

"Which is in the well-preserved Tablet."

The point is that Divine Omniscience is free from any error or alteration and it is evident that such Book originating from such Sublime Source whose original version is in the well-preserved Tablet is far from any error and alteration.