When You Look at the Sky, What Do You Really See?

When you look up at the sky while walking at night, what do you see?

With the naked eye, all we see are points of light. Some are brighter, some flicker, and some appear calm and still.

If you imagine that fourteen hundred years ago you were sitting in the middle of a desert, writing a book, with no telescope and no scientific instruments—wouldn’t you describe all of these lights simply as stars? Of course you would. At that time, there was no way to distinguish between them.

But the Qur’an does not do that.

If you reflect carefully, you will notice that the Qur’an uses extremely precise and technical vocabulary for celestial bodies. It differentiates between burning stars and reflecting bodies, between those that move in orbits and those that appear relatively fixed. It distinguishes between hot, energy-producing objects and cold celestial bodies. It separates stars used for navigation from stars described as adornments of the sky. It even distinguishes between silent lights and violent, striking phenomena.

Today, we will think deeply about these different types of stars mentioned in the Qur’an and the surprising science hidden behind their Arabic names.

We begin with the two most obvious celestial bodies: the Sun (ash-Shams) and the Moon (al-Qamar).

I hope you know that our Sun, which the Qur’an calls Shams, is itself a star. In the seventh century, it was commonly believed that the Sun and the Moon were essentially the same type of object, with the only difference being brightness. But the Qur’an draws a strict physical distinction between them.

The Qur’an describes the Sun as Sirāj—a lamp—and Wahhāj—blazing. In Arabic, Sirāj refers to an object that produces light by consuming fuel. It carries the meaning of burning, heat, and an internal energy source. Scientifically, this is perfectly accurate. Today we know that the Sun is a massive fusion reactor that burns hundreds of millions of tons of hydrogen every second. It truly is a burning lamp, exactly as the Qur’an describes.

The Moon, however, is not described this way. The Qur’an calls it Munīr, meaning illuminated or reflecting light. This word is used for something that does not burn on its own, but instead receives and reflects light from another source. It is cold. It is a mirror, not a lamp.

One word defines a source of light; the other defines reflection.

This is a subtle distinction that cannot be made by the naked eye. Yet a book written fourteen hundred years ago speaks with this level of precision.

This reality is truly remarkable.

The Qur’an describes the Sun as Sirāj—a lamp—and Wahhāj—blazing. In Arabic, Sirāj refers to an object that produces light by consuming fuel. It carries the meaning of burning, heat, and an internal energy source. Scientifically, this is perfectly accurate. Today we know that the Sun is a massive fusion reactor that burns hundreds of millions of tons of hydrogen every second. It truly is a burning lamp, exactly as the Qur’an describes.

The Moon, however, is not described this way. The Qur’an calls it Munīr, meaning illuminated or reflecting light. This word is used for something that does not burn on its own, but instead receives and reflects light from another source. It is cold. It is a mirror, not a lamp.

One word defines a source of light; the other defines reflection.

The Moon, however, is not described this way. The Qur’an calls it Munīr, meaning illuminated or reflecting light. This word is used for something that does not burn on its own, but instead receives and reflects light from another source. It is cold. It is a mirror, not a lamp.

One word defines a source of light; the other defines reflection.