ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an vol. 12 Section 6: Repentance, Belief and Good Deeds Surah al-Furqan - Verse 61 تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاء بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا 61. “Blessed is He Who has set in heaven constellations, and has set therein a lamp (the sun) and the moonilluminating.” The Qur’anic word /tabaraka/ is used only in past tense and it is repeated thee times in this Surah[^1].

As it was said before, it is derived from whether the word ‘Baraka’ (stable and constant), or from the word ‘Barakat’ (abundant goodness). This noble verse is in fact the answer of those who said what ‘the Beneficent’ is. Though they present this question mockingly, the Holy Qur’an answers them seriously.

It says: “Blessed is He Who has set in the heaven constellations...” The Arabic word /burūj/ is the plural form of the word ‘Burj’ which originally means ‘appearance’, therefore, that part of the wall that is around a city or camp of an army and is taller and more remarkable is called ‘Burj’. Also when a woman shows her adornment, it will be said: “Tabarrajat il-Mar’ah’. This word is applied to tall palaces, too.

Anyway, heavenly mansions refer to special constellations before which each season and each time of year the sun and the moon pass, for example, it is said that the sun is in Aries-, which means the sun is in front of the constellation of Aries,: Or the moon is in Scorpios, that is the moon is in front of the constellation of Scorpios.

(A constellation is a collection of stars which seems to us a special form.)[^2] Thus, the verse refers to the heavenly places of the sun and the moon and it says: “...and has set therein a lamp (the sun) and the moon illuminating.” As a matter of fact, this verse states how precise and fixed the Orbits of the sun and the moon are in heaven. (Of course, these changes are in fact resulted from the movement of the earth around the sun).

It is a precise system that rules them for millions of year so that astronomers can forecast hundreds of year later. This system that rules over these great celestial bodies testifies to the existence of a Lord Who is the manager and administrator of the great universe. Do not they (disbelievers) know Him with such clear signs and with such exact places of the sun and the moon and then they say what the Beneficent is? Why is the sun called ‘Siraj’?