Yasin (39): "And the moon, We have ordained for it phases..."

(And the moon, We have ordained for it)—that is, We have determined its course, meaning the location in which it travels—(phases).

Qaddara (ordained) here means "placed," and it is a verb that takes two objects. The speech contains an elliptical genitive (mudaf), where the deleted mudaf is the first object, and manazil (phases) is the second. Abu Hayyan chose to estimate a genitive verbal noun (masdar), where qaddara is transitive to one object, and manazil is in the accusative case as an adverb of place; that is, "We determined its course in phases."

Others estimated the object to be "light," meaning "We determined its light in phases," so the amount of light increases every day during the waxing phases and decreases during the waning phases, given that its light is derived from the light of the sun—its manifestations appearing through its proximity to and distance from it, along with its eclipse by the Earth coming between it and the sun. This completes the line of reasoning, but the truth is that there is no certainty in this, and there is nothing here but the preponderance of opinion.

It is possible that qaddara is transitive to two objects, with manazil implying "possessing phases." It is also possible that it is transitive to one object, which is manazil, with the original construction being "We ordained for it phases" (via elision and prepositional connection), a view preferred by Abu as-Sa'ud. The noun al-qamar (the moon) is in the accusative case, governed by a verb implied by the mention of the latter—that is, "And We have ordained the moon, We ordained it"—and in this repetition is a degree of emphasis on the act of ordination. It is as if, because their months are reckoned by it, the reason for the change in style is known.

The two Haramis (Meccans and Medinans), Abu 'Amr, Abu Ja'far, Ibn Muhaysin, and Al-Hasan (with a report to the contrary from him) read al-qamaru in the nominative. Many have stated it is in the nominative as an initial subject (ibtida'), with the sentence qaddarnahu as its predicate. It is also possible, in my view, that the same grammatical logic used in the Almighty's saying, "And the sun runs" (wa ash-shamsu tajri), applies here. Reflect on this.

Manazil is the plural of manzil, and the intended meaning is the distance the moon traverses in a day and a night. Among the Indians, this is twenty-seven, because the moon cuts through the zodiacal sphere in twenty-seven and one-third days, so they omitted the one-third because it is less than half, as is the convention of astrologers. Among the Arabs and desert dwellers, it is twenty-eight, not because they rounded the one-third to one—as some have stated—but because since their years were reckoned by the lunar months, and the beginnings of those months fell sometimes in the middle of summer and sometimes in the middle of winter—as were the times of their trade and their holidays—they needed to regulate the solar year to know the seasons of the year, so that they could engage in preparing for each season with whatever was important for that season, such as moving to pastures and the like.

So, they devised a way to regulate it: they looked first at the moon and found it returns to a position relative to the sun in about thirty days, and it disappears at the end of the month for two nights, or less, or more. Thus, they subtracted two days from the time of the month, leaving twenty-eight. This is the time between its first appearance in the evenings as a new moon at the beginning of the month and its last sighting in the mornings as it remains hidden at the end of it. They divided the sphere of the heavens by this, so each division was approximately twelve degrees and fifty-one minutes, which is one-seventh of a degree, so the share of each zodiac sign was two and one-third phases.

Once the cycle was regulated by this division, they devised a way to regulate the solar year by the manner in which the sun traverses these phases. They found that it always obscures three phases: the one it is in, by its rays; the one before it, by the light of dawn; and the one after it, by the light of the sun. They observed the appearance of what was hidden by the light of dawn, then by the sun's rays, then by the light of twilight, and found the time between the appearance of each two phases was approximately thirteen days. Thus, the days of all the phases would be three hundred and sixty-four; however, the sun traverses them all in three hundred and sixty-five, so they added a day to the days of the Ghafr phase. They added it there as a matter of convention, or for its nobility, as you will hear, God willing. Sometimes it is necessary to add two days so that the completion of the twenty-eight corresponds with the completion of the year, and the matter returns to the first star.

Know that the Arabs designated the marks of the twenty-eight divisions by the visible stars near the ecliptic, following the moon’s path or parallel to it, so the moon is seen every night descending near one of them. The conditions of the stars of the phases in relation to the phases are like the conditions of the stars of the zodiac signs in relation to the zodiac signs among the astronomers: they are parallel to the phases, and they are in the Falak al-Aflak (the highest sphere). If the moon accelerates in its course, it may bypass a phase in the middle; and if it slows down, it may remain for two nights in one phase, entering it at the beginning of the first night and leaving it at the end of the second. Sometimes it is seen on some nights between two phases.

What is said about the months, that the visible phases each night are fourteen, and likewise the hidden ones, and that when a phase rises, its 'watcher'—which is the fifteenth from the rising one—sets, so called by analogy to a watcher observing it to fall in the west when the other appears in the east, is clearly flawed because they are not on the same ecliptic, and the distances between them are not equal. This is why there may be sixteen or seventeen visible ones, and the hidden ones may be thirteen.

These stars, which are called the phases, are parallel to the true phases, according to what has been reported from Ibn Abbas and others. The first of them is Ash-Shartan (the two signs), dual of sharat (a sign). They are two luminous stars of the third magnitude on the horns of Aries, extending between north and south, with three spans between them. Near the southern one is a small star that the Arabs call Ashrat because by their setting, they are signs of rain and wind, and the moon is parallel to them. Near the northern one is a luminous star, which is Ash-Shartan according to some; it is also called An-Natih (the butting one).

Then Al-Butayn (the little belly), a diminutive, which are three hidden stars of the fifth magnitude in the shape of an acute triangle on the thighs of Aries; between it and Ash-Shartan is the distance of a spear-length, and the moon passes by them occasionally. Then Ath-Thurayya (the Pleiades), diminutive of tharwa (abundance), from which the word thara (wealth) comes. It is called An-Najm (the star), and according to the famous view of astrologers, it is six stars gathered like the shape of a fan, its handle toward the east, and it has a curve on the northern side. It is said it resembles a cluster of grapes, and this is the opinion of Uhayha bin al-Julah or Qays bin al-Aslat: "The Pleiades have appeared in the morning as you see, like a cluster of malahiyya grapes when they bloom." Four of them are observed, all of the fifth magnitude, and their position is the hump of Taurus; in Al-Kashf, it is the rump of Aries. The moon sometimes eclipses it.

Then Ad-Dabaran (the follower), so named because it follows the Pleiades and comes behind them. It is a luminous red star of the first magnitude at the end of the shape of the 'seven' in Indian numerals, and it is called Al-Majdah. Its position is the eye of Taurus, and the one at the other end is of the third magnitude on its other eye. The remaining three, also of the third magnitude, are on its face, and the corner of this numeral is on the snout of Taurus. Some call Ad-Dabaran the "Heart of Taurus," and the moon sometimes eclipses it.

Then Al-Ha'qa (the circle), three hidden stars resembling the dots of the letter tha', as if they were a cloud stain, compared to the circle that is on the breadth of a horse's chest, or where it would touch the leg of the rider, or a white gleam on the left side of the horse. They are also called Al-Athafi (the cooking stones). They are on the head of the giant called Al-Jawza' (Gemini), and the moon is parallel to them but does not approach them.

Then Al-Han'a (the neck), with a nun, two stars of the fourth and third magnitude compared to a mark on the lower neck of the horse. They are on the leg of Gemini toward the north; in Al-Kashf, it is the left shoulder of the giant, and the moon passes by them. Then Adh-Dhir'a (the arm), two luminous stars of the second magnitude on the heads of Gemini. They mean by them the "extended arm of the Lion," for the "contracted" one is Ash-Shi'ra ash-Shamiyya (Sirius) with its companion, and the moon approaches the extended one.

Then An-Nathra (the nostrils), the space between the whiskers parallel to the bridge of the nose, which is the nose of the Lion. They are two hidden stars of the fourth magnitude with the distance of an arm-span between them, and a cloud-like stain. They are in the center of Cancer, and near them are two stars called Al-Himmaran (the two donkeys), and the stain between them is called Al-Ma'laf (the manger) by analogy to fodder, and Mahadh of the Lion, meaning the place of its concealment, and the moon eclipses each of them.

Then At-Tarf (the glance), two small stars of the fourth magnitude, one on the head of the Lion in front of its eyes and the other in front of its forehand. The moon is parallel to the more northern of them and eclipses the more southern. By At-Tarf, they mean the eye of the Lion. Then Al-Jabhah (the forehead), meaning the forehead of the Lion, four stars on a line with a curve going from north to south. The greatest of them is at the end of the line toward the south, called "Heart of the Lion" because it is in its position; it is also called Al-Maliki (the royal one), and it is of the first magnitude. The moon passes by it and the one next to it.

Then Az-Zubra (the mane), two luminous stars behind the forehead, with more than an arm-span between them. They are on the mane of the Lion—meaning its shoulders—according to the Arabs, and according to the astrologers, at its rear. The mane of the Lion is the hair on its neck during anger. The southern one is of the third magnitude, the northern of the second, and it is called the "Back of the Lion." The moon is parallel to them from the south.

Then As-Sarfa (the changer), one star on the way to the tail of the Lion, called the "Tail of the Lion." The moon is parallel to it from the south, and it was named thus because the cold departs at its setting. Then Al-'Awwa' (the howler), five stars of the third magnitude in the shape of the Arabic letter lam, starting from the left shoulder of Virgo to under its left breast on a southern line from As-Sarfa. Then two turn on a line forming an obtuse angle with the first. The Arabs claimed they are dogs howling behind the Lion, and that is why they are called Al-'Awwa'. It is said about this that they are howling after the cold, and for this reason, it is called "the chaser of the cold." It is also said that it comes from 'awa (to bend), so because of its curvature, it was named as such. In Al-Kashf, Al-'Awwa' is the lower part of the human figure, and it is said to be the hip of the Lion, and the moon cuts through it.

Then As-Simak al-A'zal (the unarmed tracker), a luminous star of the first magnitude on the left shoulder of Virgo near the ecliptic. The moon passes by it and eclipses it. Opposite As-Simak al-A'zal is As-Simak ar-Rami (the armed tracker/the archer), which is not one of the phases; it is called Rami because of a star preceding it like a spear, and it is called Simak because it is samaka (raised high).

Then Al-Ghafr (the covering), three stars of the fourth magnitude on the tail of Virgo and its rear leg on a curved line with its hump toward the north. It is said there are two stars. The moon passes to their south and sometimes is parallel to the northern one. It is a auspicious phase, remote from the two misfortunes: the "forepart of the Lion" and the "rear of the Scorpion." It is said to be the rising of the prophets and the righteous. It was called Ghafr because of its covering and the dimness of its light. Some mentioned that they are stars of Libra.

Then Az-Zubana (the pincers), two luminous stars of the second magnitude, separated in the north and south by the distance of a spear-length, on the scales of Libra. Many have said they are the two horns of the Scorpion, and the moon sometimes eclipses the southern one. Then Al-Iklil (the crown), three hidden stars extending from north to south on a curved line. Its shape resembles that of Al-Ghafr, and the two stars following the middle one are of the fourth magnitude, and the moon passes through all of them. It is said they are four stars on the head of the Scorpion, hence the name, and the original meaning of the word is "crown."

Then Al-Qalb (the heart), which is the heart of the Scorpion, a luminous red star in the middle of the three that form the body of the Scorpion on a straight line from west to east. It is of the second magnitude, and the two stars before and after it, called An-Niyatayn (the two arteries), are of the third. The moon passes through it and eclipses it from the ecliptic.

Then Ash-Shawla (the stinger), called the "needle of the Scorpion" by the Hijazis, two luminous stars of the second magnitude close together on the tips of the Scorpion’s tail, and the moon is parallel to them. Then An-Na'a'im (the ostriches), four stars of the third magnitude on a slant following Ash-Shawla. They are called An-Na'a'im al-Warida (the incoming ostriches), that is, toward the Milky Way. The moon passes by two of them and is parallel to the others. Near them are four others of the third magnitude on a slant, which are An-Na'a'im as-Sadira (the outgoing ostriches), that is, the departing ones. All of them are part of the figure of the Archer. They were called Na'a'im by analogy to the timbers used on a well.

Then Al-Balda (the town), a piece of the sky empty of stars, circular, compared to the "town of the fox," which is what it brushes with its tail. It is also called the "wilderness" and the "gap." It is said it was named thus by analogy to the space between the eyebrows, and its position is behind the stars called Al-Qilada (the necklace), which is the headband of the Archer.

Then Sa'd adh-Dhabih (the fortune of the slaughterer), two stars on the horns of Capricorn, with the distance of a span between them. South of them is one of the third magnitude; the moon approaches it but does not eclipse it. Near the northern one is a small star that almost touches it; it is said to be the sheep he intends to slaughter, and it is said to be in his slaughtering place, hence it is called Adh-Dhabih.

Then Sa'd Bula' (the fortune of the swallower), two stars on the left palm of the Water-pourer above the back of Capricorn, with the distance of a span between them. The one to their west is of the third magnitude, and the one to their east is of the fourth. Near the one that leads is a small star as if it had swallowed it, hence the name. In the Qamus, Sa'd Bula' is a known phase of the moon, which rose when God said: "O earth, swallow your water" [Hud: 44]. They are two stars level in their path, one hidden and the other luminous, called Al-Ba'i as if it swallowed the other. It is said it is because it lacks what Sa'd adh-Dhabih has, so it is as if it swallowed its sheep. The moon approaches the southern one but does not eclipse it.

Then Sa'd as-Su'ud (the fortune of fortunes), two stars, and it is said three, on a curved line between north and south with its hump toward the west. The southern one, which the moon approaches, is of the fifth magnitude on the tip of the tail of Capricorn, and the northern one is of the third; the latter, with the other, is in the other view among the stars of the Archer. The moon approaches the southern one. It was named thus because at the time of its rising, the beginning of what they and their livestock live by occurs.

Then Sa'd al-Akhbiya (the fortune of the tents), four stars of the third magnitude from the stars of the Archer on the right hand of the Water-pourer, three in the shape of an acute triangle, and the fourth in their center, which is the "fortune," and the three are its "tent," hence the name. It is said it is because it rises before the warmth, so the insects that were hiding come out. The moon approaches them from the south.

Then Al-Fargh al-Muqaddam (the forward spout), and it is said "the upper one," two luminous stars of the second magnitude with the distance of a spear-length between them. The southern one is on the back of the great winged Horse, and the northern one is on its shoulder. The moon passes by the distance from them.

Then Al-Fargh al-Mu'akhkhar (the rear spout), two luminous stars of the second magnitude with the distance of a spear-length between them. The southern one is on the wing of the Horse, and the northern one is shared between its navel and the head of the chained lady (Andromeda). The Arabs compared the four to the spout of a bucket, and this is the pourer of the water from it, because of the abundance of rain at that time.

Then Batn al-Hut (the belly of the fish), and it is also called Ar-Risha' (the cord), meaning the cord of the bucket, and "heart of the fish," a luminous star of the third magnitude on the side of the chained lady. The moon is parallel to it but does not approach it. It was named thus only because of its location in the belly of a great fish under the throat of the camel, which the Arabs imagine from two lines on which there are hidden stars from the chained lady, some of them from one of the two fish of Pisces.

Know that the Arabs call the fourteen northern phases of these twenty-eight—the first of which is Ash-Shartan and the last is As-Simak—Shamiyya (Syrian), and the rest, the first of which is Al-Ghafr and the last is Batn al-Hut, are Yamaniyya (Yemeni). They call the emergence of the phase from the light of dawn its "rising," and the setting of its "watcher" at the time of morning its "setting." The phases whose rising occurs in the rainy seasons are Anwa' (rain-bringers), and their watchers, if they rise in non-rainy seasons, are Bawarih (winds). This was stated by Al-Qutb.

Al-Jawhari said: A naw' (singular of anwa') is the setting of a star of the phases in the west with the dawn, and the rising of its watcher in the east. It is parallel to it at that moment every night until thirteen days have passed, except for Al-Jabhah, which has fourteen days. Abu 'Ubayd said: It was not heard that naw' refers to setting except in this place. The Arabs attribute rains, winds, heat, and cold to the setting star of the phases, while Al-Asma'i said: To the one rising in its dominion. So they say, "We were rained upon by the naw' of the Pleiades," for example. The plural is anwa' and nuwan, like 'abd (slave) and 'abdan. Al-Tibi mentioned from Al-Marzuqi that the naw' of Ash-Shartan is three days, Al-Butayn three nights, the Pleiades five nights, Ad-Dabaran three nights, and Al-Ha'qa six nights; they do not mention its naw' except with the naw' of Gemini. The naw' of Al-Han'a is also not mentioned; it only occurs in the anwa' of Gemini. Adh-Dhir'a has no naw'. The naw' of An-Nathra is seven nights, At-Tarf three nights, Al-Jabhah seven, Az-Zubra four, As-Sarfa three, Al-'Awwa' one night, As-Simak four, Al-Ghafr three (and it is said one night), Az-Zubana three, Al-Iklil four, Al-Qalb three, Ash-Shawla likewise, An-Na'a'im one night, Al-Balda three (and it is said one night), Sa'd adh-Dhabih one night, and Bula', Sa'd as-Su'ud, Sa'd al-Akhbiya, and Al-Fargh al-Muqaddam three, and the Mu'akhkhar four. In my copy, no naw' was mentioned for Ar-Risha'.

Furthermore, the statement of a person, "We were rained upon by the naw' of such-and-such"—if he intends by it that the naw' itself brought down the rain, then this is disbelief (kufr), and the speaker is a disbeliever whose blood is lawful if he does not repent, as stipulated by Ash-Shafi'i and others. In Ar-Rawda, whoever believes that the naw' causes rain in reality has committed disbelief and becomes an apostate. If he intends that the naw' is a cause through which God Almighty sends down water, as He has known and ordained, then this is not disbelief, but rather permissible; however, Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: Even if it is permissible, it is an act of ingratitude for God's grace and ignorance of His subtle wisdom.

In the two Sahihs (Bukhari and Muslim), it is narrated from Zayd bin Khalid al-Juhani that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Do you know what your Lord said?" They said, "God and His Messenger know best." He said: "He said: 'This morning, some of My servants became believers in Me, and some became disbelievers. As for him who said, "We were rained upon by the grace of God and His mercy," he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars. And as for him who said, "We were rained upon by the naw' of such-and-such," he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.'" It is evident that disbelief is the opposite of belief, so it is interpreted as applying when the speaker intends what was first mentioned. God is the Protector from every evil; there is no Lord but Him, and nothing is hoped for but His goodness.

The moon, in common usage, is the star known in all the nights of the month. It is well-known among linguists that after it joins with the sun and departs from it, it is not called a qamar (moon) except from the third to the twenty-sixth night, and otherwise, it is called a hilal (crescent). Perhaps the most evident meaning in the verse is to carry it on the first meaning, which is what is common when it is mentioned with the sun—that is, "We ordained this known celestial body into phases and specific distances, so it traveled through them and descended through them, phase by phase."

(Until it returned)—that is, it became, in the final stages of its journey and its proximity to the sun in the eye of the observer—(like the old date-stalk). It is the stalk of the palm fruit bunch, from the branch to its point of origin. This was narrated from Al-Hasan and Qatada, and from Ibn Abbas that it is the base of the bunch. It is said it is the branch itself, or what the unripe dates hang on from the branches of the bunch and the bunch itself. The famous view is the first. Its 'nun'—according to what is related from Az-Zajjaj—is extra, so its weight is fa'lun from al-in'iraj, which is bending and turning. A group, preferred by Al-Raghib, As-Samin, and the author of the Qamus, argued that it is original, so its weight is fa'lul. Sulayman at-Taymi read ka-l-'urjuni with a kasra on the 'ayn, a sukun on the ra', and a fatha on the jim, which is a dialect for it, like bizyun (a Roman rug) or sundus (silk brocade).

(The old)—that is, the ancient [stalk] over which time has passed, causing it to dry out. The point of comparison is the yellowness, the thinness, and the curvature. It is said the minimum duration for something being "old" is a year. If a man said, "Every slave of mine who is old is free," those who have spent a year or more are freed. It is said it is six months, and some of the Imamiyya narrated this from Abu al-Hasan ar-Rida, may God be pleased with him.