The Light of Truth — Page 349
THE HOLY QURAN ON THE ECLIPSES 349 understand? How can a phenomenon that is part and parcel of this sys- tem manifest itself after the dismantling and complete breaking apart of that very system? You know full well that lunar and solar eclipses are produced from orderly forms, and stable, pre-established condi- tions at appointed times and on well-known days that have been made clear. How, then, can their occurrence be assigned to a period of time that possesses no evolutionary line of development, nor causes, nor any order, nor a firmly established system? Behold, if you possess insight! Moreover, it is a necessary condition for both lunar and solar eclipses that the moon and the sun return to their customary positions and resume their primary orbits—and this implication is contained within the defining characteristics of both eclipses. As for the wrapping up of the sun and moon on the Day of Judgement, this is an altogether different reality wherein their light shall not return to its original form; rather, this occurrence will take place only after the dismantling and total breaking apart of the present system and destruction of this abode. Allah did not name that event khusūf [lunar eclipse] or kusūf [solar eclipse]; rather, He named it tak- wir ['the wrapping up'] or kasht ['the laying bare'] of heavenly bodies, as you read in the Word of Allah the All-Knowing. ¹ Thus, it is established from this language—among the elite and commoners alike—that the Sign mentioned in this verse relates to this world and not the hereafter. To attribute the lunar and solar eclipses to the Day of Judgement on the basis of some erroneous story is an error in understanding. On the contrary, it is a prophecy from among the prophecies concerning the Latter Days and of the nearing of the Hour and of the approaching of the appointed time, as is clear to those who reflect. This is supported by the hadith which appears in ad-Dāraqutnī. Muhammad al-Baqir bin Zain al-'Abidīn relates: 1. See Surah at-Takwir, 81:2 and 81:12. [Publisher]