The first verse mentions the exhibition of the visible universe so that his certitude may be fortified and his natural belief be rejuvenated.

God says: “Thus We showed Abraham the Kingdom of visible universe so that he may be one among those with certitude and for his belief to be rejuvenated.” (1)

The reason for having him witness the kingdom is that he was made to witness the material universe and its changes and also the rule of God on them. The word “Malakutun” in Arabic means “Mulkun” or the visible world and the alphabets “Wau and Ta” have been added for stress.

The next verses mention the absolute control and the firm rule of God over the universe. Actually the meaning has been explained precisely and in length in these verses. This is the style of explanation of Qura’nic verses that first a brief mention is made so that the listener or reader becomes eager to hear or read the total explanation and then the verses are explained in details. The “Fa” in Falamma is an example of this.

The next verse mentions the details. The stars are mentioned in the beginning and then is the refutation of those who worship the stars and their belief by Hazrat Abraham. It says, “When the night covered him, he saw a star and said:” This is my Lord”.

The use of the word Kaukaban that Kaukaba here denotes a very bright star that attracted Abraham’s attention; or else there are umpteen stars in the sky in the night. This special mention of one is the proof of it being a specific star. It is confirmed by the fact that Venus rises in the onset of the night and the word Kaukabun denotes an ascending star. This confirms the views of the commentators that it means either Venus or Mars. Incidentally these two stars were considered as gods in the ancient times and people used to worship them as has been reported from Imam Jafar Sadiq (AS) that the star which Abraham singled out was Venus. Any way the star set a little while later and Abraham said, “I do not love the setting ones” (at least not worth worshipping). The Holy Qura’n has explained it another way.

Abraham next gave his attention to the moon that had risen and was shining brightly spreading it beautiful light all over the sky. Abraham when he saw it said, ‘This is my Lord, this is the greatest.” He said, “This is my Lord.” In a short while it too set like the star and the sky was veiled in darkness. Abraham was yearning for the true Lord and was bent on finding him said, “Unless my Lord guides me, I shall surely be among the errant ones.”

Abraham stressed that human effort is not enough to find the truth but it is imperative that there should be the guidance and help from God to save man from the ranks of the wayward. The fact that God’s help and guidance is always there for those who seek Him sincerely cannot be denied.

The night passed and it collected its cloak of darkness and fled. Suddenly the sun reared its shining head-on the horizon in the east spreading its golden light on the mountains and the fields. Qura’n has described it as: When he saw the rising sun he said: “This is my Lord; this is the greatest” (2)

As soon as the day passed the sun sank into darkness wearing the veil of the west and Abraham could not resist saying: “O people! I am free from all that you join as partners in worship with God”

I have understood by their setting and hiding that they are all creations that are helpless in front of the supreme laws of creation and are subject to disappearance. On seeing their condition I am sure that behind this situation is the greatest power about which we cannot think of setting or disappearing and there can be no scope for changes in this divine entity. He then continued: “Verily I have turned my face towards Him who has created the heavens and the earth being upright and I am not one among the polytheists.”

The moot question is whether these three events of watching the stars, sun and the moon took place in a single or in two nights? Some commentators who misperceived the meaning have opined that the events took place in two nights but from the verses we discern that they took place in a single night and day. This is possible because it is in the early period of the month that Venus is seen clearly visible on the horizon and then sets. The moon follows it with its brilliance from the east (the word Bazeghun denotes that the moon was in ascendancy) and it is only when the moon sets that the sun rises after some time. We can conclude that these events took place in a single night and day.

This is not important anyway, but the point to be reflected upon is that how could a learned and enlightened person like Abraham utter such words that seemingly seemed polytheist in nature?

This question could be answered in two ways:

1. What Abraham said in the verse is: “O people! I am free from all that you join as partners in worship with God”

 And this is a proof that he was in a stage of confrontation and debate with the polytheists. It is also known that Babel had people who worshipped the stars, moon and the sun. In such a situation a learned person, a teacher well versed in the art of debate who confronts the obstinate persons does not radically oppose their beliefs in a hurry but goes along with them temporarily as a companion and takes cautious steps to reach his goal. He then overcomes them. Abraham too adopted this measure so he went along with them and said what they said so that he could expose the weakness of their belief about the setting stars, moon and the sun. This was a very effective form of planning his arguments that appealed to the hearts and this cannot be judged detrimental to his elevated status as an enlightened person with certitude.

There is a parable about this:

Mammon Rashid the Abbasid Caliph used to consider this to be detrimental to the piety of the Prophets of God but Imam Ali Reza (AS) answered him saying: Hazrat Abraham was pitted against three kinds of polytheists, the first was the group that worshipped the star Venus, the second group considered the moon to be its God and the third worshipped the sun. Abraham spoke to them as if he was surprised and this was only to explain things to them. (3)

Prophet Abraham said all this (about the stars and the planet being) under an assumption and generally when the researcher analyses anything he does so from all angles. Even if a person becomes aware of something through a God gifted realization he still feels it necessary to establish an intellectual and material proof for it. He desires to see whatever he has been enlightened with reflected in the mirror of intelligence so he thinks about it from all angles and researches each of them. If a researcher through divine realization comes to know the truth about the soul not being a material entity he still wants to form an intellectual explanation for it, so he assumes that the soul is a material creation or it contains matter. Then he reflects about matter and its essential ingredients so much so that he is sure that being material or containing matter is not compatible with the creation of the soul and the souls cannot be considered a material being but are a separate non material reality. It is under this rule that Abraham decided to prove the oneness and unity of God on an intellectually and logically though his heart was filled with certitude about God being a separate single entity So he used this method and kept repeating “This is God” that he may reject

The stars and moon’s claim to god ship through their setting or disappearance and so he concluded, “Verily I have turned my face towards Him who has created the heavens and the earth being upright and I am not one among the polytheists.” (4)

There are some traditions speak about it also. It is reported from Imam Jafar Sadiq (AS) that he said: “People were not guided before the appointment of the Prophets though they had some inkling about the unity of God naturally but could not understand it and so God sent his Messengers to explain His existence to them and to guide them.” He further added: “Have you not heard the words of Abraham: “Unless my God guides me, I shall surely be among the errant ones.” Or that he would forget his covenant with God. (5)

The first answer of Imam Reza through the verses of the Qura’n seems more appropriate

1. Some Commentators say that the des c r i p tion of the verse hints that “WE show you the heavens and the earth in the way We showed Abraham (So there is a hidden sentence in the verse)

2. Though the word Shamso is female in gender and one should say Ha-zehi instead of haza but there is no difficulty about this in ins c r i p tion and here the words Almojudo and Almoshahido may be connected with that which is present and observed

3. Oyunul Ikhbarer Reza (As per Tafsir Al Mizan Volume 7 page 214).

4. Various doubts have been raised about the explanation of these verses e.g. was Abraham speaking to refute or to express surprise? Various explanations have been raised in the commentaries Tafsir Tibiyan and Tafsir Razi but none is compatible with the verses.

5. Tafsir Nurus-Saqalain Vol 1 Page 736