Oaths by creation
A collection of Quranic verses featuring oaths sworn by celestial bodies, the night, the sky, and other natural phenomena.
- 42
- verses
- 37
- Meccan
- 5
- Medinan
- 0.94
- cohesion
Cohesion is how alike these verses are to the group’s centre, from 0 to 1.
What binds this group is form rather than subject: repeated phrasing, a shared opening, or a refrain. It is a real pattern in the text, but it is not a topic, and it is shown here as what it is.
The 40 verses nearest its centre
Closest to the group’s centre first. 2 more verses belong to this group.
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا
And [by] the sky and He who constructed it
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ
And [by] the night when it passes,
وَٱلسَّقْفِ ٱلْمَرْفُوعِ
And [by] the heaven raised high
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَىٰهَا
And [by] the moon when it follows it
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ
And [by] the night when it departs
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ
And [by] the night when it covers with darkness,
وَبَنَيْنَا فَوْقَكُمْ سَبْعًا شِدَادًا
And constructed above you seven strong [heavens]
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا ٱتَّسَقَ
And [by] the moon when it becomes full
وَٱلنَّٰشِرَٰتِ نَشْرًا
And [by] the winds that spread [clouds]
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْمَشَٰرِقِ وَٱلْمَغَٰرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَٰدِرُونَ
So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings that indeed We are able
وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا
And [by] the earth and He who spread it
فَٱلْحَٰمِلَٰتِ وِقْرًا
And those [clouds] carrying a load [of water]
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰهَا
And [by] the night when it covers it
وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَىٰهَا
And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.
وَٱلسَّمَآءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ ٱلْمِيزَانَ
And the heaven He raised and imposed the balance
وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلشِّعْرَىٰ
And that it is He who is the Lord of Sirius
تَنزِيلًا مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ ٱلْعُلَى
A revelation from He who created the earth and highest heavens,
وَٱلَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ
And [by] the night and what it envelops
ٱلسَّمَآءُ مُنفَطِرٌۢ بِهِۦ كَانَ وَعْدُهُۥ مَفْعُولًا
The heaven will break apart therefrom; ever is His promise fulfilled.
تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَٰجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا
Blessed is He who has placed in the sky great stars and placed therein a [burning] lamp and luminous moon.
رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ ٱلْمَشَٰرِقِ
Lord of the heavens and the earth and that between them and Lord of the sunrises.
رَبُّ ٱلْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ ٱلْمَغْرِبَيْنِ
[He is] Lord of the two sunrises and Lord of the two sunsets.
إِذَا ٱلشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ
When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]
لَا ٱلشَّمْسُ يَنۢبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تُدْرِكَ ٱلْقَمَرَ وَلَا ٱلَّيْلُ سَابِقُ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ
It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but each, in an orbit, is swimming.
وَجَعَلْنَا سِرَاجًا وَهَّاجًا
And made [therein] a burning lamp
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْبُرُوجِ
By the sky containing great stars
وَٱلْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ ٱلصَّدْعِ
And [by] the earth which cracks open,
وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمُعْصِرَٰتِ مَآءً ثَجَّاجًا
And sent down, from the rain clouds, pouring water
وَجَعَلَ ٱلْقَمَرَ فِيهِنَّ نُورًا وَجَعَلَ ٱلشَّمْسَ سِرَاجًا
And made the moon therein a [reflected] light and made the sun a burning lamp?
فَجَعَلْنَٰهُ فِى قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ
And We placed it in a firm lodging
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلرَّجْعِ
By the sky which returns [rain]
فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ
So cause to fall upon us fragments of the sky, if you should be of the truthful."
مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ
Obeyed there [in the heavens] and trustworthy.
وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ
By the star when it descends,
فَإِذَا ٱنشَقَّتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَكَانَتْ وَرْدَةً كَٱلدِّهَانِ
And when the heaven is split open and becomes rose-colored like oil -
وَهُوَ بِٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ
While he was in the higher [part of the] horizon.
وَعَلَٰمَٰتٍ وَبِٱلنَّجْمِ هُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ
And landmarks. And by the stars they are [also] guided.
وَٱلشَّمْسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا
By the sun and its brightness
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْحُبُكِ
By the heaven containing pathways,
مَرَجَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ
He released the two seas, meeting [side by side];
Where it falls
These verses across the book in reading order. Most of them sit in Ash-Shams.
A histogram of where this topic’s verses fall across the book in reading order.
How it sounds
Measured against the whole book, so the difference is what matters.
how strongly mercy sounds
how strongly judgment sounds
how much it instructs rather than describes
how much it points beyond this life
how positive the verse feels
how charged the language is
The pale line in each bar is the whole book’s average for that channel.
Next to this
The groups sitting closest to this one in meaning.