S21
Night and day; the sun as a lamp, the moon as a light
10:5 says God "made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and account [of time]": two lights, two jobs.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ ٱلشَّمْسَ ضِيَآءً وَٱلْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُۥ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا۟ عَدَدَ ٱلسِّنِينَ وَٱلْحِسَابَ ۚ مَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلْـَٔايَٰتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ٥
Transliteration: huwa alladhī jaʿala l-shamsa ḍiyāan wal-qamara nūran waqaddarahu manāzila litaʿlamū ʿadada l-sinīna wal-ḥisāba mā khalaqa l-lahu dhālika illā bil-ḥaqi yufaṣṣilu l-āyāti liqawmin yaʿlamūna
It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases - that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَٰجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا٦١
Transliteration: tabāraka alladhī jaʿala fī l-samāi burūjan wajaʿala fīhā sirājan waqamaran munīran
Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon.
وَجَعَلْنَا سِرَاجًا وَهَّاجًا١٣
Transliteration: wajaʿalnā sirājan wahhājan
And made [therein] a burning lamp
Translation: Saheeh International
Meccan.
"Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon" (25:61), Meccan.
"And made [therein] a burning lamp" (78:13), Meccan, in a list of signs in Sura al-Nabaʾ.
Key words
Ḍiyāʾ ("shining light", 10:5) and nūr ("derived light"). Sirāj wahhāj (78:13): "a burning lamp". Qamaran munīran (25:61): "luminous moon". Manāzil ("phases", literally stations).
See also: 71:16
Classical tafsir
Ibn Kathir on 10:5. "He made the rays that come forth from the bright sun as the source of light, and made the beams that come forth from the moon as light. He made them of two different natures so they would not be confused with one another." And: "He ordained phases for the moon".
Al-Jalālayn on 10:5. God "made the sun a radiance that is emitting light and the moon a light"; the moon is "determined it with respect to its movement in stations", "28 stations in 28 nights every month".
Ibn Kathir on 78:13. "the radiant sun that gives light to all of the world." Al-Jalālayn: "and set a radiant lamp? namely the sun".
What they share. Both notice that the sun and moon are described differently — "two different natures" (Ibn Kathir) — and both tie the moon to counting time through its "stations".
How it works
Each point is tied to "shining light", "derived light" and "phases".
- A lamp that makes its own light. Established The Sun is a star; it produces its own light by nuclear fusion in its core. (No Sun fact sheet was read.)
- A light that reflects. Established The Moon makes no light; it reflects sunlight. Its geometric albedo is 0.12 and its Bond albedo 0.11 (NASA NSSDC): it returns only about a tenth of the light that reaches it. Its surface is dark; it looks bright because it is in full sunlight against a black sky.
- Phases for counting time. Established The Moon's synodic period — new moon to new moon — is 29.53 days; its sidereal period (one orbit against the stars) is 27.3217 days (NASA NSSDC). Twelve synodic months make about 354 days, about eleven days shorter than the solar year, so the Islamic months move through the seasons.
Points of awe
Because the lunar year is shorter than the solar year, a Muslim who lives long enough fasts Ramadan in every season.
Text version
- The Moon's phases repeat every 29.5 days, the basis of the Islamic months.
- Twelve lunar months make about 354 days, about 11 days shorter than the solar year. So Ramadan comes a little earlier each year and moves through all seasons in about 33 years.
- A Muslim who lives long enough fasts Ramadan in every season of the year.
- The dot on the wheel starts at no particular year; it only shows the drift. The yearly drift is the difference between the 354-day lunar year and the solar year (about 11 days).
Reflection
"It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light" (10:5). Two lights hang in the same sky, and the verse names them differently. Ibn Kathir saw it: God "made them of two different natures so they would not be confused with one another". The sun burns; the moon glows.
Then the verse gives the reason that touches every life: "that you may know the number of years and account [of time]". The moon's "stations", al-Jalālayn says, move through twenty-eight nights each month. The prayers follow the sun; the months, the fast and the pilgrimage follow the moon. Two clocks, set in the sky for everyone, free, everywhere.
The verse ends: "Allah has not created this except in truth". The order of the lights is not an accident; it is meant to be read.
Today we know the moon gives back only a tenth of the light that falls on it. Its surface is dark rock. It shines only because it faces the sun. There is a picture there for a believer, offered as reflection, not as the verse's meaning: we too have no light of our own. Whatever light we give, we give back.
Questions readers ask next
What is the difference between ḍiyāʾ and nūr?
Ibn Kathir: the sun's rays are "the source of light", the moon's beams "light", of "two different natures". Al-Jalālayn: the sun is "a radiance that is emitting light", the moon "a light".
Does the moon make its own light?
No. It reflects about 11–12% of the sunlight that reaches it (NASA NSSDC).
Why are Islamic months 29 or 30 days?
Because the Moon's cycle of phases is 29.53 days (NASA NSSDC).
What are the moon's "stations"?
The 28 positions through which it passes in a month (al-Jalālayn).
Sources
- Saheeh International — 10:5, 25:61, 78:13.
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (abridged English), and Tafsīr al-Jalālayn (English), on 10:5, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-5-sora-10.html, and on 78:12–13, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-13-sora-78.html.
- NASA NSSDC, "Moon Fact Sheet", https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html.
- NASA Sun and Moon fact sheets (solar luminosity, lunar albedo)
- Al-Rāzī and al-Zamakhsharī on 10:5 and 25:61
- Diyanet, on the Hijri calendar (Hicrî takvim)