Al-Qur'an Surah Ya-Sin Verse 39

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And for the moon We have appointed measured phases, until it turned (pale, curved and fine) like an old branch of date palm.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

As for the moon, We have ordained ˹precise˺ phases for it, until it ends up like an old, curved palm stalk.

Ruwwad Translation Center

As for the moon, We have determined phases for it, until it becomes like an old palm stalk.

A. J. Arberry

And the moon -- We have determined it by stations, till it returns like an aged palm-bough.

Abdul Haleem

We have determined phases for the moon until finally it becomes like an old date-stalk.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And the moon! For it We have decreed mansions till it reverteth like the old branch of a palm-tree.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And the Moon,- We have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk.

Abul Ala Maududi

We have appointed stages for the moon till it returns in the shape of a dry old branch of palm-tree.

Ahmed Ali

We have determined the stations of the moon, so that (after its wanderings) it returns as a dried up inflorescent spike of dates.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And We have appointed positions for the moon till it returns like an old branch of the date palm.

Ali Quli Qarai

As for the moon, We have ordained its phases, until it becomes like an old palm leaf.

Ali Ünal

And for the moon We have determined mansions till it returns like an old shriveled palm-leaf.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (think over the phase of) the moon, We have determined its various mansions, so that (after traversing these mansions) it returns (to the stage when it appears) like an old dry twig of a palm-tree.

English Literal

And the moon We predestined/evaluated it (in) sequences/descents until it returned as/like the palm tree`s branch/date bunch, the old .

Faridul Haque

And We have appointed positions for the moon till it returns like an old branch of the date palm.

Hamid S. Aziz

And as for the moon, We have ordained for it stages till it becomes again as an old dry palm leaf.

Hilali & Khan

And the moon, We have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And the sun moves on to its destination. That is the ordinance of the Mighty, the Knower.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And (as for) the moon, We have ordained for it stages till it becomes again as an old dry palm branch.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And for the moon We have appointed mansions till she return like an old shrivelled palm-leaf.

Muhammad Sarwar

how We ordained the moon to pass through certain phases until it seems eventually to be like a bent twig;

Qaribullah & Darwish

And the moon, We have determined it in phases till it returns like an old palmbranch.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And the moon, We have decreed for it stages, till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk.

Wahiduddin Khan

We have ordained phases for the moon until finally it becomes like an old date-stalk.

Talal Itani

And the moon: We have disposed it in phases, until it returns like the old twig.

Tafsir jalalayn

And the moon -- (read wa'l-qamaru, in the nominative, or wa'l-qamara, in the accusative; and it may be in the accusative because of a following verb that governs it) We have determined it, with respect to its course, [to run] in phases -- twenty eight phases in twenty eight nights of every month; it becomes concealed for two nights when the month has thirty days, and for one night when it has twenty nine days -- until it returns, during its final phase seeming to the [human] eye, like an aged palm-bough, in other words, like the stalk with a date cluster when it ages, becoming delicate, arched and yellowish.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ

And the moon, We have decreed for it stages,

meaning, `We have caused it to run in a different orbit, from which passing of the months can be deduced, just as night and day are known from the sun.'

This is like the Ayah;

يَسْـَلُونَكَ عَنِ الَاهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِىَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ

They ask you about the crescent moons. Say;"These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage (Hajj)." (2;189)

هُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَأءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُوراً وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُواْ عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ

It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light and measured out for it stages that you might know the number of years and the reckoning. (10;5)

and,

وَجَعَلْنَا الَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ ءَايَتَيْنِ فَمَحَوْنَأ ءَايَةَ الَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَأ ءَايَةَ النَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةً لِتَبْتَغُواْ فَضْلً مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلِتَعْلَمُواْ عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ تَفْصِيلً

And We have appointed the night and the day as two Ayat (signs). Then, We have obliterated the sign of the night while We have made the sign of the day illuminating, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the number of the years and the reckoning. And We have explained everything with full explanation. (17;12)

So, He has given the sun its own light, and the moon its (reflection of) light, and has given each its own orbit. So the sun rises each day and sets at the end of the day, giving one kind of light all the time, but it moves, rising and setting at different points in the summer and winter, thus making the days and nights longer or shorter alternatively according to the season. Its authority is in the daytime, for it is the heavenly body that dominates the day.

As for the moon, Allah has decreed that it should pass through different phases. At the beginning of the month, the moon appears small when it rises. It gives off little light, then on the second night its light increases and it rises to a higher position, and the higher it rises the more light it gives -- even though it is reflected from the sun -- until it becomes full on the fourteenth night of the month. Then it starts to wane until the end of the month, until it appears like the old dried curved date stalk.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

"This is the original stem (which connects the bunch of dates to the tree)."

The Arabs have a name for each set of three nights in a month, according to the phases of the moon.

- They call the first three nights Ghurar;

- the next three nights Nufal;

- the next three nights Tusa` (nine) -- because the last of them is the ninth.

- The next three nights are called `Ushar (ten) -- because the first of them is the tenth.

- The next three nights are called Al-Bid (white) -- because of the light of the moon which shines brightly throughout these three nights.

- The next three nights are called Dura`, the plural of Dar`a', because on the first of them the night is dark from the moon rising late. Dar`a' refers to the black sheep, i.e., the one whose head is black;

- the next three nights Zulam;

- then Hanadis,

- then Da'adi;

- then Mihaq, because of the absence of moonlight at the beginning of the month.

Abu Ubayd did not recognize the names Tusa` and `Ushar, in the book Gharib Al-Musannaf.

حَتَّى عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ



till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk