The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 118
CHAPTER 53 AN-NAJM (Revealed before Hijrah) Title, Date of Revelation, and Context The Surah takes its title from the very first word of its text. It is a Meccan Surah, having been revealed, according to overwhelming scholarly opinion, in the 5th year of the Call, shortly after the first migration to Abyssinia which took place in the month of Rajab of that year. Whereas the preceding Surah had ended on the injunction contained in the verse: "And for part of the night also do thou glorify Him and at the setting of the stars," the present Surah opens with the words, "By the star when it falls. " Moreover, in the preceding Surah the truth of the Quranic revelation and of the divine claim of the Holy Prophet was sought to be established by a fleeting reference to Biblical prophecies and natural phenomena. In the Surah under comment the same subject has been dealt with in a very exquisite and forceful style. It is stated that the Holy Prophet was not only a true Messenger of God but Prophet par excellence, and that he was commissioned by God as humanity's last and infallible guide and preceptor. Summary of the Subject Matter The Surah opens with citing the falling of (for an explanation of this word see under v. 2) as an evidence in support of the divine claim of the Holy Prophet, and proceeds to say: "Your companion has neither erred, nor has he gone astray," because, "The Lord of mighty powers has taught him, the One Possessor of strength. " The Prophet, having been initiated into divine mysteries, and having drunk deep at the fountain of Divine grace and knowledge, and of the realization of God, attained to the highest peak of spiritual eminence to which a human being can conceivably rise. Then he became filled to the fullest extent with the milk of human kindness and sympathy, and, having been thus spiritually equipped, was appointed to preach Divine Unity to a world given to the worship of gods made of wood and stone and creations of man's own imagination. The Surah continues to give very strong, solid and sound arguments from human reason and history, and from the insignificant beginnings of man, in support of the doctrine of the Oneness of God; and condemns idolatry in forceful terms. This foolish doctrine, the Surah declares, is born of lack of true knowledge and rests on baseless conjecture which "avails naught against truth. " Next, it says that idolaters should have learned from the life stories of Abraham, Moses and other Prophets that idolatrous beliefs and practices have always landed mankind into moral and spiritual ruin, and that every man will have to bear 3014