Ya-Sin 36:39
Ya Sin · Juz 23 · Page 442
وَٱلۡقَمَرَ قَدَّرۡنَٰهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَٱلۡعُرۡجُونِ ٱلۡقَدِيمِ ٣٩
And the moon - We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk.
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Ma'arif al-Qur'an
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Commentary on 36:39
The text now turns to: وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ (And for the moon, We have appointed measured phases, until it turned [ pale, curved and fine ] like an old branch of date-palm.- 36:39). The dried bough of a date tree that gets bent like a bow is called: عُرْجُونِ (` urjun).
The stages of the moon
The word: مَنَازِلَ (manazil) is the plural of: مَنزِل (manzil) and denotes the place one arrives at. Allah Ta` la has bound the movement of the sun and the moon both with particular points, each of which is known as a Manzil or stage. Since the moon completes its orbit in one month, therefore, it has thirty or twenty-nine stages. But, as the moon disappears at least for a day during every month, therefore, its stages are generally taken to be twenty-eight. Astronomers have given these stages particular names in congruence with the stars that are found in the frontal proximity of these stages. Even during the days of Arabs of Jahiliyyah, stages were determined by these very names. The Holy Qur'an is far above these technical names. What it means to communicate are only the distances the moon traverses during particular days.
Relevant details have appeared in the commentary on Surah Yunus. It can be seen in Ma’ ariful-Qur'an, English, Volume IV, pages: 515-520. In this verse of Surah Yunus 10:5, the stages of the sun and the moon both have been mentioned: جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ "[ He is the One who ] has made the sun a glow and the moon a light, and determined for it the stages - 10:5". The only difference is that the stages of the moon are identified through observation, while the stages of the sun are calculated mathematically. By saying: حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ - (until it turned [ pale, curved and fine ] like an old branch of date-palm.- 36:39), described there is the state of the moon towards the end of the month when it recedes from the stage of the full moon to the extent that it transforms into the shape of a dried old bough bent like a bow. It is in consonance with the Arab surrounding that it has been likened to a dried bough of the date tree that assumes the shape of a crescent.
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36:28
۞ وَمَآ أَنزَلۡنَا عَلَىٰ قَوۡمِهِۦ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِۦ مِن جُندٖ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنزِلِينَ ٢٨
And We did not send down upon his people after him any soldiers from the heaven, nor would We have done so.
36:29
إِن كَانَتۡ إِلَّا صَيۡحَةٗ وَٰحِدَةٗ فَإِذَا هُمۡ خَٰمِدُونَ ٢٩
It was not but one shout,1 and immediately they were extinguished.
1 translator’s note
- From Gabriel or a blast from the sky. ↩
36:30
يَٰحَسۡرَةً عَلَى ٱلۡعِبَادِۚ مَا يَأۡتِيهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُواْ بِهِۦ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُونَ ٣٠
How regretful for the servants. There did not come to them any messenger except that they used to ridicule him.
36:31
أَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ كَمۡ أَهۡلَكۡنَا قَبۡلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلۡقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمۡ إِلَيۡهِمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ ٣١
Have they not considered how many generations We destroyed before them - that they to them1 will not return?
1 translator’s note
- i.e., to those living presently in the world. ↩
36:32
وَإِن كُلّٞ لَّمَّا جَمِيعٞ لَّدَيۡنَا مُحۡضَرُونَ ٣٢
And indeed, all of them will yet be brought present before Us.
36:33
وَءَايَةٞ لَّهُمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةُ أَحۡيَيۡنَٰهَا وَأَخۡرَجۡنَا مِنۡهَا حَبّٗا فَمِنۡهُ يَأۡكُلُونَ ٣٣
And a sign for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat.
36:34
وَجَعَلۡنَا فِيهَا جَنَّٰتٖ مِّن نَّخِيلٖ وَأَعۡنَٰبٖ وَفَجَّرۡنَا فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلۡعُيُونِ ٣٤
And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and caused to burst forth therefrom some springs -
36:35
لِيَأۡكُلُواْ مِن ثَمَرِهِۦ وَمَا عَمِلَتۡهُ أَيۡدِيهِمۡۚ أَفَلَا يَشۡكُرُونَ ٣٥
That they may eat of His fruit.1 And their hands have not produced it,2 so will they not be grateful?
36:36
سُبۡحَٰنَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ ٱلۡأَزۡوَٰجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَمِنۡ أَنفُسِهِمۡ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ ٣٦
Exalted is He who created all pairs1 - from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.
1 translator’s note
- Or "all species." ↩
36:37
وَءَايَةٞ لَّهُمُ ٱلَّيۡلُ نَسۡلَخُ مِنۡهُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظۡلِمُونَ ٣٧
And a sign for them is the night. We remove1 from it the [light of] day, so they are [left] in darkness.
1 translator’s note
- Literally, "strip" or "peel." Sunlight projected onto the earth is removed from it as the earth turns and night approaches. ↩
36:38
وَٱلشَّمۡسُ تَجۡرِي لِمُسۡتَقَرّٖ لَّهَاۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقۡدِيرُ ٱلۡعَزِيزِ ٱلۡعَلِيمِ ٣٨
And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
36:39
وَٱلۡقَمَرَ قَدَّرۡنَٰهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَٱلۡعُرۡجُونِ ٱلۡقَدِيمِ ٣٩
And the moon - We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk.
36:40
لَا ٱلشَّمۡسُ يَنۢبَغِي لَهَآ أَن تُدۡرِكَ ٱلۡقَمَرَ وَلَا ٱلَّيۡلُ سَابِقُ ٱلنَّهَارِۚ وَكُلّٞ فِي فَلَكٖ يَسۡبَحُونَ ٤٠
It is not allowable [i.e., possible] for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but each, in an orbit, is swimming.