Characteristics of Surah An-Najm

Surah An-Najm is the first chapter that the Holy Prophet ﷺ proclaimed in Makkah (` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ has transmitted it - as in Qurtubi) and this is the first Surah in which a verse of sajdah (prostration) is revealed. The Holy Prophet recited it and prostrated. A strange thing happened on this occasion: When the Holy Prophet finished reciting the Surah before a mixed gathering of Muslims and disbelievers, and, along with his followers, he prostrated himself on the ground. The disbelievers too prostrated, except one proud and arrogant man (regarding whose name there is a difference of opinion (Tr.) ) who took a handful of soil and, having applied it on his forehead, said, 'this is enough'. ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ ، [ the transmitter of the Tradition ] said that he saw this man lying dead in the state of disbelief [ kufr ]. (Bukhari, Muslim and other compilers of Sunan - Ibn-Kathir [ condensed ])

At the outset of this Surah, the truth of the Qur'anic revelation and of the Divine claim is sought to be established. In a very exquisite and forceful style, it is stated that the Holy Prophet is a true Messenger of Allah, and there is no room for any doubt about this.

Allah Swears that the Messenger is True

وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ (By the star when it goes down to set,.... 53:1) The word najm means a star, and as a common noun every star is referred to as najm, and in that case the plural is nujum. There are however occasions when najm specifically refers to thurayya. In this case it is used as a proper noun and it signifies "the Pleiades" which is a loose cluster of many (hundred) stars, (six of which are visible to ordinary sight). In this context, some scholars, taking the word as a proper noun, interpret najm as thurayya. Farra' and Hasan Basri prefer the first interpretation, and take the word as a common noun (Qurtubi). This is the interpretation that is adopted in the translation.

The verb hawa means to fall or plunge. When stars fall, they set. In this verse Allah swears an oath to show that the Messenger ﷺ is true, and his words are a revelation from Allah, in which there is no room for any doubt. In Surah As-Saffat it has been explained in detail that the Creator, for various wise reasons, swears by whatever He wills among His creation, but His created beings only swear by the Creator. They are not allowed to swear by anything else. Here Allah has sworn an oath by the stars. Probably, the underlying wisdom in this is that as the Arabs are used to determine the course and direction of, and are guided in their travels by the movements of the stars in the sandy waste of Arabia, so they would now be led to the goal and end of their spiritual journey by the star par excellence, that is, by the Holy Prophet ﷺ .