Each constellation has two and one-third lunar stations. The moon enters one of them each night and remains hidden for two nights if the month has thirty days; if it has twenty-nine, then for one night. These, then, are the lunar stations. The sun remains in each station for thirteen days, and with their completion the year comes to an end.

His saying, exalted is He, “so that you may know the number of years”: that is, so that by the measure of the phases—their commencement and completion—you may know the number of years. “And reckoning”: that is, the reckoning of months, days, and hours. “Allah did not create that”: the singular demonstrative refers back to the act of creation and determination; had it referred to the entities mentioned, He would have said, “those.” “Except in truth”: that is, He did not create it in vain, but as a manifestation of His workmanship and an indication of His power. “He sets out the signs in detail for a people who know”: Ibn Kathir, Abu ‘Amr, Hafs, and Ya‘qub recited it as “He sets out,” in the third-person form, in view of His words, “Allah did not create”; the remaining reciters read, “We set out,” using the majestic plural.

“Indeed, in the alternation of night and day and what Allah has created in the heavens and the earth are signs for a people who fear Allah. (6)”