وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ CONSIDER this unfolding [of God's message], as it comes down from on high! (1) مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded, (2) وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ and neither does he speak out of his own desire: (3) إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired – (4) عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَىٰ something that a very mighty one has imparted to him: (5) ذُو مِرَّةٍ فَاسْتَوَىٰ [an angel] endowed with surpassing power, who in time manifested himself in his true shape and nature, (6) وَهُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَىٰ appearing in the horizon's loftiest part, (7) ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ and then drew near, and came close, (8) فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even nearer. (9) فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَىٰ And thus did [God] reveal unto His servant whatever He deemed right to reveal. (10) |
Abdullah Yusuf Ali By the Star5085 when it goes down,- (Translation) 5085. Najm is interpreted in various ways. As most commonly accepted, it means either a Star genetically, or the close cluster of seven stars known as the Pleiades in the Constellation Taurus, which the sun enters about the 21st of April every year. In mid-April, or a little later, the beautiful cluster would set just after the sun, after having gradually ascended the sky in the winter months. In late May, or a little later, it would rise just before the sun. In its western aspects, it might be considered a spring constellation. To open-air nations (including the Arabs) whose climate usually presents starry skies, this is an object of great interest, and many folklore tales gather round it. When so glorious a cluster is content to bow down in the horizon and merge its light in the greater light created by Allah (see the last three lines of C. 228), it becomes a symbol of humility in beauty and power before the Most High, Whose revelation discloses the summit of beauty, power and wisdom. Hawa in the text may mean either "goes down (or sets)" or "rises". Whichever meaning we take, it makes no difference to the symbolic interpretation given above. Buy this commentary from Amazon Other Translations of Verse : • By the Star when it goes down,- (Abdullah Yusuf Ali) • By the Star when it setteth, (Mohamed Marmaduke Pickthall) • I swear by the star when it goes down. (M. H. Shakir) • By the star when it goes down, (or vanishes). (Taqiuddin Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan) • By the star when it setteth. (Abdul-Majid Daryabadi) • By the star when it plunges, (Hassan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish) • By the star when it plunges, (Muhammad Ayub Khan) • By the star when it falls, (Sher Ali) • CONSIDER this unfolding [of God's message], as it comes down from on high! (Muhammad Asad) • By the Star when it plunges, (Arthur John Arberry) |