Surah 15. Al-Hijr, Ayah 16
| وَلَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَزَيَّنَّاهَا لِلنَّاظِرِينَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- la- qad jacalnaa fe as- samaa' buroj(an) wa- zayyannaa -haa li- an- naaz.iren |
| Pickthall | : | And verily in the heaven We have set mansions of the stars, and We have beautified it for beholders. |
| Asad | : | AND, INDEED, We have set up in the heavens great constellations,15 and endowed them with beauty for all to behold; |
| Malik | : | It is We who have decked the heavens with constellations and made them good looking for the beholders; |
| Yusuf Ali | : | It is We who have set out the Zodiacal Signs in the heavens and made them fair-seeming to (all) beholders; 1949 1950 |
Note - 15My rendering of buruj as "great constellations" is based
on the Taj al-'Arus; among the classical commentators,
Baghawi, Baydawi and Ibn Kathir give the same
interpretation, while Tabari (on the authority of Mujahid
and Qatadah) explains this term as signifying "the stars"
in general.
|
Note - 1949Evil having been described, not as an external thing, but
as a taint of the soul, we have in this section a
glorious account of the purity and beauty of Allah's
Creation. Evil is a blot on it, not a normal feature of
it. Indeed, the normal feature is the guard which Allah
has put on it, to protect it from evil.
|
Note - 1950In the countless millions of stars in the universe which
we see, the first step in our astronomical knowledge is
to find marvellous order, beauty, and harmony, on a scale
of grandeur which we appreciate more and more as our
knowledge increases. The first broad belt that we
distinguish is the Zodiac, which marks the sun's path
through the heavens year after year and the limit of the
wanderings of the moon and the planets. We make twelve
divisions of it and call them Signs of the Zodiac. Each
marks the solar path through the heavens as we see it,
month after month. We can thus mark off the seasons in
our solar year, and express in definite laws the most
important facts in meteorology, agriculture, seasonal
winds, and tides. Then there are the mansions of the
moon, the mapping out of the Constellations, and the
other marvellous facts of the heavens, some of which
affect our physical life on this earth. But the highest
lessons we can draw from them are spiritual. The author
of this wonderful Order and Beauty is One, and He alone
is entitled to our worship.
|
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My rendering of buruj as "great constellations" is based on the Taj al-'Arus; among the classical commentators, Baghawi, Baydawi and Ibn Kathir give the same interpretation, while Tabari (on the authority of Mujahid and Qatadah) explains this term as signifying "the stars" in general. |
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Evil having been described, not as an external thing, but as a taint of the soul, we have in this section a glorious account of the purity and beauty of Allah's Creation. Evil is a blot on it, not a normal feature of it. Indeed, the normal feature is the guard which Allah has put on it, to protect it from evil. |
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In the countless millions of stars in the universe which we see, the first step in our astronomical knowledge is to find marvellous order, beauty, and harmony, on a scale of grandeur which we appreciate more and more as our knowledge increases. The first broad belt that we distinguish is the Zodiac, which marks the sun's path through the heavens year after year and the limit of the wanderings of the moon and the planets. We make twelve divisions of it and call them Signs of the Zodiac. Each marks the solar path through the heavens as we see it, month after month. We can thus mark off the seasons in our solar year, and express in definite laws the most important facts in meteorology, agriculture, seasonal winds, and tides. Then there are the mansions of the moon, the mapping out of the Constellations, and the other marvellous facts of the heavens, some of which affect our physical life on this earth. But the highest lessons we can draw from them are spiritual. The author of this wonderful Order and Beauty is One, and He alone is entitled to our worship. |
