Surah al-Tariq—Meccan

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

“By the heaven and the night-comer; and what can make you know what the night-comer is? The piercing star. There is no soul but that over it is a guardian.”

“By the heaven and the night-comer.” Al-Kalbi said: This was revealed concerning Abu Talib. He came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and brought him bread and milk as a gift. While he was sitting and eating, a star suddenly fell, filling the sky first with light and then with fire. Abu Talib was alarmed and said, “What is this?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, “This is a star that has been hurled, and it is one of Allah’s signs.” Abu Talib was astonished, so Allah, mighty and majestic, revealed: “By the heaven and the night-comer.” (2)

This is an oath. The tariq is a star that appears at night; whatever comes to you by night is a tariq.

“And what can make you know what the night-comer is?” Then He explained it, saying, “The piercing star”: that is, the shining, luminous star. Mujahid said: “The blazing one.” Ibn Zayd said: He meant the Pleiades, which the Arabs call “the star.” It was also said that it is Saturn, so called because of its elevation. The Arabs say of a bird that has risen high into the midst of the sky: “It has pierced through.”

“There is no soul”—this is the answer to the oath—“but that over it is a guardian.” Abu Ja‘far, Ibn ‘Amir, ‘Asim, and Hamzah recited lamma with a doubled consonant, meaning: There is no soul except that it has a guardian over it. This is the dialect of Hudhayl, who use lamma in the sense of “except.” They say: “I adjure you by Allah, lamma you rise,” meaning, “that you do nothing but rise.”

The others recited it without the doubled consonant, taking ma as an additional particle. Its sense is: Truly, every soul has a guardian over it [from its Lord]. (3)