"Surely He is able to bring him back (to life)!

"Surely He is able to bring him back (to life)!” 9. "On the Day when hidden things will he made manifest,” 10. "man will have no strength, and no helper." O man! Consider of What You Are Created! This Surah, like many other Surahs of the last part of the Holy Qur'an, begins with some beautiful oaths to reflect upon which express a great fact.

"By the Sky and the Night-visitant (therein)" "And what will explain to thee what the Night-visitant is?" "(It is) the Star of piercing brightness,” The term /tariq/ is derived from /tarq/ 'to pound'. And /tariq/ means 'way’ because the path is pounded by the feet of pedestrians. The term /matraqah/ 'a sledge hammer' is used for pounding iron and materials like this.

And since the doors are closed at night when people arrive they have to pound on them to gain permission to enter, then, that which comes at night is called /tariq/ ‘the night-visitant'.

Amir-al-Motmineen Ali (as) said about Ash'ath-ibn-i-Qays, the hypocrite, who came to the door of his house at night and thought that he could bribe Hazrat Ali by giving him some honey paste so that he would not judge against him, then Hazrat Ali said: "A stranger incident than this is that a man came to us in the night with a closed flask full of honey paste.” [^3] The Qur’an has defined 'tariq', itself, where it says: "(It is) the Star of piercing brightness."' This Night-visitant is the brilliant star that appears very high in the sky as if it almost pierces its depth; and it is so bright that it splits the thick darkness and penetrates to the eyes.

There are many different ideas said about the kind of 'star' mentioned in this verse. Some of them, from the point of its distance and highness, say that it may be 'Pleiades'. Some others, from the point of its brightness, say that it is ‘Saturn', or 'Venus', or 'a meteor'. Some ideas say that it can be any star which glitters in the sky.

But, taking note that the modifier 'piercing' mentioned in the verse for the star, shows that the star is not any star, but it is a forceful bright star whose light passes through the darkness of night and penetrates to men's eyes. Some narrations denote that the 'star' is 'Saturn' which is one of the planets of the solar system and is very bright.

This very idea is also understood from a narration of Imam Sadiq (as) when he was asked by an astronomer regarding what Allah meant by /thaqib/ in that verse and he answered: “It is 'Saturn' which appears in the seventh sky.