I want an explanation of some verses of the Qur’ān.

(i) 81:2 describes a particular event which will take place on the Day of Judgement. It is generally translated as ‘when the stars will fall’. It is confusing to imagine the direction in which they will fall since the earth is round. Also, since the stars are larger than the earth, they cannot obviously fall on the earth, though it seems at first sight that this is what is being referred to. Please clarify.

(ii) 86:6-7 mentions that a human being is created from a gushing fluid that springs from between the ribs and the loins. It seems that this is a reference to the blood. Kindly, explain how humans are created from blood.

(iii) 21:33 states that the sun and the moon are moving in an orbit. It has been scientifically proved that the moon is in orbit. However, I do not know what science says about the sun. Please let me know if there is any scientific discovery about whether the sun is also in orbit.

(iv) Who is Luqmān whom the Qur’ān refers to and what is the context of the following verses:

Turn not your cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness on the land. Verily, Allah loves not each braggart boaster. Be modest in your bearing and subdue your voice. Indeed, the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass. (31:18-19)

(i) A more precise translation will perhaps remove your confusion. Read: ‘When the stars fall out’, instead of ‘When the stars fall’. This of course does not mean that the stars will fall down on the earth. It means that they will be dispersed from their positions, and will no longer follow their systematic routine and schedule.

(ii) The reference is not to blood; it is to a man’s seminal fluid about which it is now medically known that the neuron system which controls its release is spread between the ribs and the loins.

(iii) According to modern astronomical advancements and discoveries, the sun together with its solar system is moving in an orbit at the speed of 20 km/sec. Its movement seems outwardly linear to us, but in all probability is following a closed circuit path.

(iv) These verses present a part of the advice given by Luqmān to his son as recorded by the Qur’ān. Luqmān was a wise man who lived many centuries before the Prophet (sws) (some say in the time of the Prophet David (sws)) in the south of Arab in Yemen. His people are the descendants of the nation of ‘Aād. Ancient Arab literature mentions him as a sage and a man of wisdom. He is well-known to the Arabs in this capacity. He seems to have been the ruler of his tribe and his advice and counselling mentioned in the Qur’ān show that they were directed to his son and were given at the time when his son was taking over as the tribe ruler after him. The idolaters of Makkah are the addressees of the sūrah in which these verses occur and the context and background of these verses is that the words of wisdom the Qur’ān is presenting before the idolaters of Makkah are nothing new. These words of wisdom of the Almighty are the same as what they know from one of their own sages: Luqmān. It is their misfortune caused by their own wrong attitude that they are denying the very facts which are upheld in their own intellectual tradition.