Al-Inshiqaq · Makki · ayah 18 of 25

Al-Inshiqaq 84:18

وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا ٱتَّسَقَ

“And [by] the moon when it becomes full”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah swears by the moon at the moment its light is gathered full, a fullness that was built night by night and will not last.

A reflection

Full, and already turning

On the morning of Mother's Day, a florist's window is at its absolute peak. Every bucket is full, the tulips are open, the roses are just right. People stop on the pavement to take photographs. By Tuesday the unsold stems are in the compost bin behind the shop. The fullness was real. It was also a single morning.

Wa-l-qamari idhā ittasaq: and by the moon when it becomes full. The early explanations say: when it gathered together, levelled, became complete and round. One places it on the thirteenth night of the month, another on the fourteenth. Another classical commentator gives the thirteenth to the sixteenth. However it is counted, it is a few nights.

A later scholar of the heart lists what the oath contains. The crescent is a sign. Its growth each night is a sign. Its fullness, when it is filled with light, is a sign. And then its beginning to diminish is a sign. The moon is sworn by at its peak, and its peak is the start of its decline.

That is humbling for anyone who has ever been at the top of something. The promotion, the best year of a business, the season when your body did whatever you asked. We speak of these as if they were ours to keep. The full moon shows otherwise. Every created fullness is lent for a few nights and then taken back into the dark, one sliver at a time.

Only One does not wax and wane. He was not less yesterday and will not be less tomorrow. Everything that becomes full does so by His measuring. 'The moon, We have measured out stations for it, until it returns like an old, dry palm stalk' (36:39).

Does He need us to notice this? No. 'Whoever strives, strives only for himself. Allah is free of need of all the worlds' (29:6). The oath is for us: so that we enjoy our full nights without mistaking them for permanence. Look at the next full moon and name one fullness in your life. Then thank the One who filled it, before it begins to turn.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.