Tafsir of At-Takweer 81:16

Al-Jawari is the plural of jariya, derived from al-jary, which means rapid movement; its root originates from the flow of water. When it moves with its flow, it is [called] al-kunnas, the plural of kanis and kanisa, derived from the wild beast entering its kinas, which is its dwelling that it fashions from the branches of trees.

The meaning of this, according to what was brought forth by Al-Firyabi, Sa'id ibn Mansur, ‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Al-Hakim—who authenticated it—via several chains of narration from ‘Ali (may Allah honor his countenance), is "the stars," meaning all of them. It is said [they are so called] because they khunas (withdraw) by day, vanishing from the eyes, and taknus (hide) by night, meaning they appear in their places like the wild beast in its kinas. There is an obscurity in the explanation of taknus as "appearing."

It is also said: they are called this because they khunas by day, hiding from the eyes even while they are above the horizon, and taknus after their rising by setting, entering into it just as the gazelles enter into the kinas; thus, they are below the horizon after having been above it. The explanation of it as the stars was also narrated from Al-Hasan and Qatadah.

Ibn Abi Hatim brought forth from the Commander [‘Ali] (may Allah honor his countenance) that he said: They are five stars: Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter, Bahram—meaning Mars—and Venus. Al-Khunnas are the "retrograde" ones, from khansa (to retreat). They are described with what is mentioned in the verse because they move with the sun and the moon and then retreat until they hide beneath the light of the sun. Their khunus (withdrawal) is their retrogression according to sight, and their kunus (hiding) is their disappearance beneath its light.

They are called the "wandering" ones due to the difference in their states during their motion as observed; they have direct motion, retrograde motion, and stationary periods. While you see them moving in one direction, they suddenly return, moving in the opposite direction; and while you see them moving, they suddenly become stationary, not moving at all. The cause of this, according to the earlier astronomers, is their being in epicycles upon deferents with different movements, as has been clarified in its proper place. The modernists who deny the aforementioned have other explanations mentioned in their books.

They—along with the sun and the moon—are called the seven planets, as their motion through specific movement is almost hidden to no one, unlike the other fixed stars. It was brought forth in the Book of Stars and by Ibn Marduyah from Ibn ‘Abbas that they are what is intended here. They are described as al-khunnas (retrograde) in the sense of retreating; some say this is a case of dominance (taghlib), since the sun and the moon have no retrogression. They are described as al-kunnas because of their disappearance at their setting. It is also said that both descriptions are in view of the fact that they vanish from the eyes and appear in their places, in the manner previously mentioned, based on the assumption that the intent is all the stars.

The identification of the planets as these seven is what was known to the early astronomers. As for today, they have added other stars to them, such as Vesta, Juno, Pallas, Ceres, and Uranus—which is called Herschel, the name of the astronomer who discovered it through observation—and they have specified their diameters, distances, and movements. Were it not for the fear of lengthiness, I would have mentioned that. They have removed the Earth from the category of planets based on their claim that it has motion around the sun. It is well-known that they did not count the moon among them, as it is—by their claim—one of the Earth's satellites.

Al-Hakim—and others who authenticated it—brought forth from Ibn Mas’ud that they are the wild cows. Ibn Abi Hatim brought forth something similar from Ibn ‘Abbas, and ‘Abd ibn Humayd from Mujahid, Abu Maysarah, and Al-Hasan. It was cited in al-Bahr from An-Nakha’i, Jabir ibn Zayd, and a group. Ibn Jarir brought forth from the "Scribe" [Ibn ‘Abbas] that they are the gazelles, and this was also narrated from Ibn Jubayr and Ad-Dahhak. They said: Al-khunas is the recession of the nose from the lip, with a slight elevation from the tip. Wild cows and gazelles are described by this. From this is the saying of one of the later poets:

The gazelle is not safe, despite its beauty, Nor the full moon that is described [in beauty]. For the gazelle has a clear khunas (recession of the nose), And the moon has a known dark spot.