Qatadah said (about this verse of the Quran) «ولقد زينا السماء الدنيا بمصابيح‏» : "Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps (stars)." He said that Allah created these stars for three benefits: He made them an adornment for the sky, made them missiles against the devils, and made them signs for guidance (in the darkness of night). So whoever says anything other than this about them, he is mistaken, has wasted his share (wasted his time or lost his faith), and has sought knowledge of the unseen which cannot be known. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said that in Surah Al-Kahf the word «هشيما‏» means "changed." «الأب» means "fodder for cattle." This word is in Surah Abasa, and in Surah Ar-Rahman the word «الأنام» means "creature," and the word «برزخ‏» means "veil." And Mujahid, the Tabi'i, said that the word «ألفافا‏» means «ملتفة» . Its meaning is "deeply wrapped." «الغلب» also means «الملتفة» , and the word «فراشا‏» means «مهاد» , as Allah the Exalted said in Surah Al-Baqarah «ولكم في الأرض مستقر‏» ( «مستقر‏» also means «مهاد» ), and in Surah Al-A'raf the word «نكدا‏» means "a little."

Mujahid said, that is, they revolve like a millstone, and other people said, that is, they move in fixed orbits according to calculation, they cannot exceed them. The word «حسبان» is the plural of «حساب» . Just as the plural of the word «شهاب» is «شهبان‏.‏» , and in Surah Al-Shams the word «ضحاها‏» has appeared. «ضحى» means light, and in Surah Ya-Sin it is mentioned that the sun could not overtake the moon, meaning the light of one cannot outshine the other, nor is it appropriate for them, and in the same Surah the words «ولا الليل سابق النهار‏» mean that day and night each rush after the other as seekers, and in the same Surah the word «انسلخ» means that We draw out the day from the night and the night from the day, and in Surah Al-Haqqah the word «واهية» is used. «وهي» means the bursting of semen, and in the same Surah, the phrase «أرجائها» means the angels will be at the edges of the heavens until it is torn apart. As it is said, he is at the edge of the well, and in Surah Al-Nazi'at the word «أغطش‏» and in Surah Al-An'am the word «جن‏» mean darkness, that is, intense darkness. And Imam Hasan al-Basri said that in Surah Al-Shams the word «كورت‏» means when it is wrapped up and darkened, and in Surah Inshiqaq the word «وما وسق‏» means the one who gathers, and in the same Surah «اتسق‏» means straightened, and in Surah Al-Furqan the word «بروجا‏» «بروج‏» refers to the stations of the sun and the moon, and in Surah Fatir the word «حرور» means the heat of the sun, and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said, «حرور» is the heat of the night and «سموم» is the heat of the day. And in Surah Fatir the word «يولج» means to wrap, to insert inside, and in Surah At-Tawbah the word «وليجة‏» means one who is deeply inserted, that is, a close confidant friend.

Narrated Abu Dhar: The Prophet asked me at sunset, "Do you know where the sun goes (at the time of sunset)?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." He said, "It goes (i.e. travels) till it prostrates Itself underneath the Throne and takes the permission to rise again, and it is permitted and then (a time will come when) it will be about to prostrate itself but its prostration will not be accepted, and it will ask permission to go on its course but it will not be permitted, but it will be ordered to return whence it has come and so it will rise in the west. And that is the interpretation of the Statement of Allah: "And the sun Runs its fixed course For a term (decreed). that is The Decree of (Allah) The Exalted in Might, The All- Knowing." (36.38)