Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Surah At-Takwir
Surah 81 · At-Takwir · verse 17 of 29

Quran 81:17 · At-Takwir

وَٱلَّيۡلِ إِذَا عَسۡعَسَ

And by the night as it closes in

Translation: Sahih International
Maulana’s commentary · Tazkirul Quran

The occurrence of day and night on the earth and the change of position of the stars as observed by man are due to the rotation of the earth on its axis. In this context, the meaning of these verses is that the system of axial rotation of the earth is a witness to the fact that Muhammad is the prophet of God and that the Quran is the word of God which has been revealed to him through an angel. The axial rotation of the earth is one of the truly remarkable phenomena of this universe. It is, so to say, a model which makes the matter of revelation understandable to us. When you imagine that the earth, while rotating on its axis, also revolves round the sun in the vastness of outer space, you will feel as if there is a powerful remote control system which directs its movements with the utmost precision. The establishment of contact between man and God through an angel is also on a parallel with this. The controlled movement of the earth symbolically helps us in understanding the miraculous nature of man’s contact with God through the angel.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Tazkirul Quran

In the lectures

Maulana does not cite this verse in the lectures indexed so far. The verses of this surah Maulana does cite →