Surah 53. An-Najm

CONSIDER this unfolding [of God's message], as it comes down from on high!¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "Consider the star when it sets" - an interpretation which for some reason has the preference of the majority of the commentators. However, almost all of them admit that the term najm - derived from the verb najama, "it appeared", "began", "ensued", or "proceeded" denotes also the "unfolding" of something that comes or appears gradually, as if by instalments. Hence, this term has from the very beginning been applied to each of the gradually-revealed parts (nujum) of the Qur'an and, thus, to the process of its gradual revelation, or its "unfolding", as such. This was, in fact, the interpretation of the above verse given by 'Abd Allah ibn'Abbas (as quoted by Tabari); in view of the sequence, this interpretation is regarded as fully justified by Raghib, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi, Ibn Kathir and other authorities. Raghib and Ibn Kathir, in particular, point to the phrase mawaqi' an-nujum in 56:75 , which undoubtedly refers to the step-by-step revelation of the Qur'an. - As regards my rendering of the adjective particle wa as "Consider", see surah {74}, note [23].

By the star when it set,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the Star when it setteth,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded,²

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [150] on 7:184 .

your companion (Muhammad) is neither astray, nor misguided,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Your comrade erreth not, nor is deceived;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and neither does he speak out of his own desire:

  - Mohammad Asad

nor does he speak out of his own desire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired -

  - Mohammad Asad

This Qur'an is but an inspired revelation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

something that a very mighty one³ has imparted to him:

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel.

He is being taught by one who is mighty, powerful (angel Gabriel);

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Which one of mighty powers hath taught him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[an angel] endowed with surpassing power, who in time manifested himself in his true shape and nature,

  - Mohammad Asad

the one free from defects who became stable in the view.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

One vigorous; and he grew clear to view

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

appearing in the horizon's loftiest part,⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 81:23 and the corresponding note [8]. According to the Qur'an and the testimony of authentic Traditions, the Prophet had no more than twice in his lifetime a vision of this angelic force "manifested in its true shape and nature" (which, as pointed out by Zamakhshari, is the meaning of the expression istawa in this context): once after the period called fatrat al-wahy (see introductory note to surah {74}), and another time, as alluded to in verses {13-18}, in the course of his mystic vision known as the "Ascension" (see Appendix IV).

He stood poised at the uppermost horizon,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When he was on the uppermost boon.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and then drew near, and came close,

  - Mohammad Asad

then he drew near, coming closer

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then be drew nigh and came down

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even nearer.⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

This graphic "description" of the angel's approach, based on an Arabian figure of speech, is meant to convey the idea that the Angel of Revelation became a clearly perceptible, almost tangible, presence.

within the length of two bows or even closer,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And thus did [God] reveal unto His servant whatever He deemed right to reveal.⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "whatever He revealed": an allusion to the exceptional manifestation of the angel "in his true shape and nature" as well as to the contents of divine revelation as such. In its deeper sense the above phrase implies that even to His chosen prophets God does not entirely unveil the ultimate mysteries of existence, of life and death, of the purpose for which He has created the universe, or of the nature of the universe itself.

and revealed to Allah's servant that what he was supposed to reveal.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And He revealed unto His slave that which He revealed.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The [servant's] heart did not give the lie to what he saw:⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Inasmuch as the Prophet was fully aware of the spiritual character of his experience, there was no conflict between his conscious mind and his intuitive perception (the "vision of the heart") of what is normally not perceptible.

His (Muhammad's) own heart did not deny that which he saw.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

The heart lied not (in seeing) what it saw.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

will you, then, contend with him as to what he saw?⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus the Qur'an makes it clear that the Prophet's vision of the angel was not a delusion but a true spiritual experience: but precisely because it was purely spiritual in nature, it could be conveyed to others only by means of symbols and allegories, which sceptics all too readily dismiss as fancies, "contending with him as to what he saw".

How can you, O unbelievers then, question what he saw?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he seeth?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, indeed, he saw him⁹ a second time

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., he saw the angel "manifested in his true shape and nature".

And he (Muhammad) saw him once again

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily he saw him, yet another time

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

by the lote-tree of the farthest limit,¹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., on the occasion of his mystic experience of the "Ascension" (mi'raj). Explaining the vision conveyed in the expression sidrat al-muntaha, Raghib suggests that owing to the abundance of its leafy shade, the sidr or sidrah (the Arabian lote-tree) appears in the Qur'an as well as in the Traditions relating to the Ascension as a symbol of the "shade - i.e., the spiritual peace and fulfilment - of paradise. One may assume that the qualifying term al-muntaha ("of the utmost [or "farthest"] limit") is indicative of the fact that God has set a definite limit to all knowledge accessible to created beings, as pointed out in the Nihayah: implying, in particular, that human knowledge, though potentially vast and penetrating, can never - not even in paradise (the "garden of promise" mentioned in the next verse) - attain to an understanding of the ultimate reality, which the Creator has reserved for Himself (cf. note [6] above).

near Sidra-tul-Muntaha (the Lot-tree at the farthest end of the seven heavens, beyond which none can pass).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the lote tree of the utmost boundary,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

near unto the garden of promise,

  - Mohammad Asad

Near it is Janna-tul-M'awa (the rest-house of paradise).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nigh unto which is the Garden of Abode.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall