except by His permission. This is a refutation of al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, who used to say, “When the Day of Resurrection comes, al-Lat and al-Uzza will intercede for me.”
His saying, exalted is He: “That is Allah, your Lord”—that is, the One who has done these things is your Lord; you have no lord besides Him. “So worship Him. Will you not then take heed?” That is, will you not be admonished?
“To Him is your return, all of you—a true promise from Allah. Indeed, He originates creation, then brings it back, so that He may recompense those who believe and do righteous deeds with justice. As for those who disbelieve, they will have a drink of scalding water and a painful punishment because they used to disbelieve. (4) He is the One who made the sun a radiant light and the moon a light, and determined for it phases, so that you may know the number of years and reckoning. Allah did not create this except in truth. He sets out the signs in detail for a people who know. (5)”
“To Him is your return, all of you—a true promise from Allah”: that is, a truthful promise in which there is no failure. It is in the accusative as a verbal noun; meaning: He has promised you a true promise. “Indeed, He originates creation, then brings it back”: that is, He gives them life in the first instance, then causes them to die, then gives them life again. The majority recite it as “Indeed, He,” with an initial i-vowel, as an independent statement. Abu Ja‘far recited, “that He,” with an initial a-vowel, meaning: because He originates creation and then brings it back. “So that He may recompense those who believe and do righteous deeds with justice”: that is, with fairness. “As for those who disbelieve, they will have a drink of scalding water”: water whose heat has reached its utmost. “And a painful punishment because they used to disbelieve.”
“He is the One who made the sun a radiant light” by day, “and the moon a light” by night. It was also said: He made the sun one possessing radiance and the moon one possessing light. “And determined for it phases”: that is, He determined for it—meaning, He prepared for it—stages which it neither exceeds nor falls short of. He did not say, “determined for them both.”
It was said that the apportioning of the phases applies to both of them, but He sufficed with mentioning one of them, just as He says: “Allah and His Messenger are more worthy that they should please Him” (al-Tawbah 62).
It was also said that this refers specifically to the moon, because the completion of months and years is known by the moon, not by the sun.
The moon has twenty-eight stations, whose names are: al-Sharatayn, al-Butayn, al-Thurayya, al-Dabaran, al-Haq‘ah, al-Han‘ah, al-Dhira‘, al-Nisr, al-Tawf, al-Jabhah, al-Zubrah, al-Sarfah, al-‘Awwa, al-Simak, al-Ghafr, al-Zubani, al-Iklil, al-Qalb, al-Shawlah, al-Na‘a’im, al-Baldah, Sa‘d al-Dhabih, Sa‘d Bala‘, Sa‘d al-Su‘ud, Sa‘d al-Akhbiyah, the foremost branch of the Water-Bucket, the latter branch of the Water-Bucket, and the Belly of the Fish.
These stations are apportioned among the constellations, which are twelve: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.