The Commentary of Al-Qasidah — Page 54
54 The commentary of al-Qa si dah In a verse of the Holy Qur’ a n, the Arabic word d iy a’ has been used as the sun and the word n u r has been used for the moon as follows: … He it is Who has made the sun radiant ( d iy a ’ - a brilliant light) and the moon lambent (n u r—a lustrous reflector)… ( Y u nus , 10:6) The word d iy a’ means direct light from its source and n u r only means a reflection. The Promised Messiah as has used this point in the couplet under discussion to describe the spiritual perfection of the Holy Prophet sa as the sun and moon. As in the physical world the sun is the central point, the Holy Prophet sa is the central point in the spiritual world. Being the sun of the spiritual world, only his light can extinguish the world’s darkness. In his absence, spiritual darkness would be confronted by other persons who would function like the moon and stars in his service. All a h says in the Holy Qur’ a n: Blessed is He Who has made constellations [of stars] in the heaven and has placed therein a Lamp (the sun) and Moon – both luminous. ( al-Furq a n , 25:62 ) Building upon the above analogy, we find twelve constellations of stars in the physical world as we know it. These have been named Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio,