In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. 'Aqil ibn Salim al-Shammari.
Surah al-Najm.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
By the star when it descends.
“Your comrade erreth not, nor is deceived;” (53:2)
And by the Pleiades when they set.
Your companion, O people, has not deviated from the truth, nor has he strayed from it.
Rather, he is upon uprightness and correctness.
He has not become misguided.
Rather, he is rightly guided and sound.
“Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire.” (53:3)
“It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired,” (53:4)
Muhammad does not speak this Qur'an out of personal desire.
This Qur'an is nothing but a revelation from Allah, revealed to him.
He was taught by one intense in strength.
He, the angel, stood poised.
While he was in the highest horizon.
Then he approached and descended.
And was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.
“And He revealed unto His slave that which He revealed.” (53:10)
He taught Muhammad, peace be upon him,
this Qur'an—meaning Gabriel, peace be upon him.
He is intense in his faculties,
possessing physical health and soundness,
free from defects and infirmities.
Then he, the one intense in strength, stood poised,
while your companion, Muhammad, was at the highest horizon of the sunrise.
This occurred when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was taken on the Night Journey.
Then Gabriel approached Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Gabriel descended toward him.
At a distance of two bow lengths or closer.
Then Gabriel revealed to His servant, Muhammad, peace be upon him,
what his Lord had revealed to him.
The heart did not deny what it saw.
The heart of Muhammad did not deny
what he saw; rather, he confirmed it.
What his heart saw was the Lord of the worlds.
He saw Him with his heart, not with his physical eyes.
It has also been said:
Rather, what his heart saw—and did not deny—was
Gabriel, peace be upon him.
“Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he seeth?” (53:12)
And he certainly saw him in another descent,
at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary,
near which is the Garden of Refuge.
Do you dispute with Muhammad, O polytheists, regarding what he sees,
of the signs of His Lord that Allah has shown him?
He saw Gabriel in his true form twice:
at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary,
near which is the Garden of Refuge for the martyrs.
“When that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree,” (53:16)
“The eye turned not aside nor yet was overbold.” (53:17)
“Verily he saw one of the greater revelations of his Lord.” (53:18)
“When that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree,” (53:16)
It was covered by golden moths.
It has also been said:
That which covered it was the Lord of Might and His angels.
The gaze of Muhammad did not swerve right or left from what he saw,
nor did he exceed what he was commanded in the slightest.
Muhammad saw there
the greatest signs and proofs of his Lord.
So have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza,
and Manat, the third one, the other?
“Are yours the males and His the females?” (53:21)
That is then an unjust division.
And for Allah is the female, while for yourselves is what you desire?
This division of yours is an unfair and unequal division,
deficient and incomplete.
“They are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which Allah hath revealed no warrant. They follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. And now the guidance from their Lord hath come unto them.” (53:23)
You have named them, you and your forefathers.
Allah has not sent down any authority for them.
They follow nothing but assumption
and what their souls desire.
“They are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which Allah hath revealed no warrant. They follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. And now the guidance from their Lord hath come unto them.” (53:23)
These names that you have given them,
namely al-Lat, al-'Uzza,
and Manat, the third one, the other,
are nothing but names you have invented,
you and your forefathers, O you who associate partners with Allah.
Allah has not sent down any proof for you regarding these names,
nor has Allah permitted that for you.
These polytheists follow nothing regarding these names
except assumption and the desires of their own souls.
And there has certainly come to these polytheists,
from their Lord, the clarification that their worship is not appropriate.
Or is there for man whatever he wishes?
Rather, to Allah belongs the Hereafter and the first life.
Or did Muhammad, peace be upon him, desire
prophethood and messengership,
and wish for that,
so his Lord granted it to him?
To Allah belongs everything in the Hereafter and the world.
He gives to whom He wills of His creation what He wills,
and He withholds from whom He wills among them what He wills.
The summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.