فَلَمَّا جَنَّ عَلَيْهِ ٱلَّيْلُ رَءَا كَوْكَبًا ۖ قَالَ هَـٰذَا رَبِّى ۖ فَلَمَّآ أَفَلَ قَالَ لَآ أُحِبُّ ٱلْـَٔافِلِينَ 76
Translations
So when the night covered him [with darkness], he saw a star. He said, "This is my lord." But when it set, he said, "I like not those that set [i.e., disappear]."
Transliteration
Fa-lammā janna 'alayhi al-laylu ra'ā kawkaban qāla hādhā rabbī fa-lammā afl qāla lā uhibbu al-āfilīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah depicts Prophet Ibrahim's intellectual journey toward recognizing the One God by observing the celestial bodies. When night fell and he saw a star, Ibrahim initially remarked 'This is my Lord,' but when it set/disappeared, he rejected it as a deity, establishing the principle that God cannot be something that disappears or changes. Classical scholars like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir explain this as Ibrahim's logical deduction that a true Lord must be eternal and unchanging, leading him through the observation of stars, then the moon, and finally the sun in the subsequent verses to arrive at absolute monotheism.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the narrative of Ibrahim's spiritual development in Surah Al-An'am, a Meccan chapter revealed early in the Prophet Muhammad's mission. The passage (6:74-79) presents Ibrahim's methodical rejection of idolatry and his search for the true God, serving as a compelling argument for Meccan polytheists to abandon idol worship and recognize Allah's oneness. This context resonates with the surah's overarching theme of rejecting shirk (polytheism).
Related Hadiths
While no hadith directly quotes this incident, Sahih Bukhari and other collections contain reports of the Prophet Muhammad explaining Ibrahim's intellectual path to tawhid. Additionally, hadiths emphasizing the signs of Allah in creation (as in 2:164) relate thematically to Ibrahim's observational method of discovering divine truth.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that true faith in God must be based on reason and reflection rather than blind tradition, and that anything subject to change, disappearance, or dependence cannot be divine. For modern believers, it emphasizes the importance of intellectual engagement with faith and the pursuit of absolute truth in rejecting all false objects of worship.
Related Ayahs
بَلْ بَدَا لَهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يُخْفُونَ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا۟ لَعَادُوا۟ لِمَا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ
But what they concealed before has [now] appeared to them. And even if they were returned, they would return to that which they were forbidden; and indeed, they are liars.
۞ قُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔا ۖ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَوْلَـٰدَكُم مِّنْ إِمْلَـٰقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ ۖ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلنَّفْسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّىٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
Say, "Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you. [He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment, and do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide for you and them. And do not approach immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed. And do not kill the soul which Allāh has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right. This has He instructed you that you may use reason."
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ ۖ وَلَوْ أَنزَلْنَا مَلَكًا لَّقُضِىَ ٱلْأَمْرُ ثُمَّ لَا يُنظَرُونَ
And they say, "Why was there not sent down to him an angel?" But if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided; then they would not be reprieved.
لَّا تُدْرِكُهُ ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱللَّطِيفُ ٱلْخَبِيرُ
Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision; and He is the Subtle, the Aware.