(37–40) “A sign for them is the night: We strip the daylight from it, and suddenly they are in darkness. * The sun runs toward its appointed destination. That is the determination of the Almighty, the All-Knowing. * As for the moon, We have ordained phases for it until it returns like an old date-palm stalk. * It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. Each floats in an orbit.”

That is, “a sign for them” that Allah’s will is irresistible, that His power is perfect, and that He revives the dead after their death is “the night: We strip the daylight from it.” In other words, We remove the immense light that had covered the earth, replace it with darkness, and set darkness in its place; “and suddenly they are in darkness.” Likewise, We remove this darkness that had enveloped and encompassed them. The sun then rises and illuminates every region, and people spread out in pursuit of their livelihoods and interests. Hence He says: “The sun runs toward its appointed destination” ⦗696⦘ [that is, it continually runs toward its appointed destination], which Allah has ordained for it. It neither goes beyond it nor falls short of it. It has no control over itself and cannot resist the power of Allah Most High. “That is the determination of the Almighty,” who, by His might, governs these immense created things with flawless governance and the finest order; “the All-Knowing,” who, through His knowledge, made them conducive to His servants’ welfare and beneficial to their religion and worldly lives.

“As for the moon, We have ordained phases for it”: it passes through these phases, occupying one of them each night, “until” it becomes extremely small and returns “like an old date-palm stalk”—that is, the stalk of a date cluster which, with age, has dried, diminished in size, and curved. Thereafter, it continues to increase little by little until [its light] becomes full and its radiance complete.

“Each one”—the sun and moon, and night and day—[Allah] has ordained according to a measure that it does not exceed. Each has its own domain and appointed time; whenever one is present, the other is absent. Hence He says: “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon”—that is, within the moon’s domain, which is the night, for the sun cannot be present during the night—“nor does the night outstrip the day” by encroaching upon it before the day’s domain has ended. “Each”—the sun, moon, and stars—“floats in an orbit”; that is, they circulate continuously. All of this is a manifest sign and a brilliant proof of the greatness of the Creator and the greatness of His attributes—particularly, in this context, the attributes of power, wisdom, and knowledge.