Allah says: “I swear by the star as it falls”.
The verse presents an oath by the star as it falls, placing our attention on a vivid celestial moment. This descent image anchors the themes that follow across interpretation, language, and lived Arabian experience.
Language insight supporting this: نَجَّم means to give or pay something in instalments; نُجُوم is used to refer to instalments.
It refers to all the نُجُوم (stars) of the sky when they disappear from the horizon.
The stars held great significance to the Arabs and were used for navigation whilst travelling at night. Their apparent positions shift through the seasons with movements of rising and falling.
The Anwaa’ referred to the use of poetry pre-Islam that was all about the stars. The word نَجْم was used a lot, often referring to the الثُّرَيَّا (Pleiades), which informed them about seasons and weather conditions.
In the summer the Pleiades would rise, signalling the hot season; conversely when it was falling, they would know winter was coming. They would make seasonal preparations related to their lives based on “the star when it falls”.
The image of the star descending would immediately evoke planning and preparedness in that culture — a lived, practical cue carried by the night sky.
Stars signaled when to prepare for seasonal changes. Their descent or disappearance meant action.
There is a connection between that and the fact that the revelation descends from the sky and informs people that they need to prepare for the afterlife.
Stars are the only light in the middle of darkness, whilst revelation is light in the middle of a world that is full of darkness.
نَجَّم means to give or pay something in instalments; نُجُوم refers to instalments. This supports Mujahid’s statement that the Qur’an was revealed in parts.
Usage includes a specific constellation (Pleiades) or, more broadly, the stars — aligning with the range of reported interpretations.
The word هَوَىٰ includes the meaning of both rising and falling.