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fa-lammā janna ʿalayhi l-laylu raʾā kawkaban qāla hādhā rabbī fa-lammā ʾafala qāla lā ʾuḥibbu l-ʾāfilīna
When night darkened over him, he saw a star and said, ‘This is my Lord!’ But when it set, he said, ‘I do not like those who set.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-‘An’am, Verse 76
76. "So when the night outspread over him, he saw a star. He said: 'This is my Lord.' But when it set, he said: ' I do not like the setting ones."
Abraham's Dispute with Pagans
When Abraham was disputing with the polytheists, he wanted to show condescension and softness in discussion, in order to reject the belief of the opposite party. He did not believe, of course, in what he told them because it was against his infallibility. Stating 'O my people!, in the second verse after the abovementioned one, is a sign of condescension in saying 'This is my Lord'. It was also for this reason that when he saw the setting of the moon and the sun, he said: "... Surely I am quit of that you associate (with Allah)' ..." (verse 78), and he did not say 'that I associate'.
A thing that has rising and setting is objective to some regularity, not in a position of subjugating them. A thing that has movement is 'creatable' and a creatable thing cannot be God. At first, Abraham temporarily expresses its acceptance in order that he can reasonably reject it later. Such reasoning, in deed, is one of the best methods of preaching and awakening the innate dispositions, actuating the minds and thoughts, and paying attention to sentiments.
Again, it causes us to understand that the true beloved is the one who is not captive to place, time and varieties, and also is not temporary, limited, and numerous.