Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 15:16–18
The Rocky Tract (Al-Hijr)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(16) We have placed constellations in heaven and have beautified it for beholders, (17) and We have guarded it from every accursed devil: (18) but if anyone eavesdrops, he is pursued by a bright flaming fire.
Commentary
(a) This does not refer simply to the wonderful appearance of the sky at night. There are innumerable stars spread out in the universe, grouped in clusters, called constellations. Our own constellation is called the ‘Milky Way.’ During the night, when the atmosphere is free of clouds, dust, etc., when one stands on open ground and casts a glance at the sky, the array of twinkling stars in the vastness of the heavens is so wonderfully glorious that, on seeing it, man becomes overwhelmed by the feeling of God’s greatness and majesty.
Those who used to tell the Prophet he should show an angel descending from heaven were asked, ‘Is the scene of the stars in the sky shown to you every day not enough to awaken your consciousness and is it not enough to melt your hearts? Must you then demand further miracles?’
(b) Satan too has been allowed to settle along with human beings on the earth. Here, he enjoys full freedom to go wherever he likes. But in God’s world beyond this earth, insurmountable hindrances have been placed in the path of Satan, so that he is unable to go beyond a certain limit.