Surah An-Najm (The Star) in English

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. والنجم إذا هوى

   1

   By the star when it sets:

   wa-n-najmi ʾidhā hawā

2. ما ضل صاحبكم وما غوى

   2

   your companion has neither gone astray, nor amiss.

   mā ḍalla ṣāḥibukum wa-mā ghawā

3. وما ينطق عن الهوى

   3

   Nor does he speak out of [his own] desire:

   wa-mā yanṭiqu ʿani l-hawā

4. إن هو إلا وحي يوحى

   4

   it is just a revelation that is revealed [to him],

   ʾin huwa ʾillā waḥyun yūḥā

5. علمه شديد القوى

   5

   taught him by one of great powers,

   ʿallamahū shadīdu l-quwā

6. ذو مرة فاستوى

   6

   possessed of sound judgement. He settled,

   dhū mirratin fa-stawā

7. وهو بالأفق الأعلى

   7

   while he was on the highest horizon.

   wa-huwa bi-l-ʾufuqi l-ʾaʿlā

8. ثم دنا فتدلى

   8

   Then he drew nearer and nearer

   thumma danā fa-tadallā

9. فكان قاب قوسين أو أدنى

   9

   until he was within two bows’ length or even nearer,

   fa-kāna qāba qawsayni ʾaw ʾadnā

10. فأوحى إلى عبده ما أوحى

    10

    whereat He revealed to His servant whatever He revealed.

    fa-ʾawḥā ʾilā ʿabdihī mā ʾawḥā

11. ما كذب الفؤاد ما رأى

    11

    The heart did not deny what it saw.

    mā kadhaba l-fuʾādu mā raʾā

12. أفتمارونه على ما يرى

    12

    Will you then dispute with him about what he saw?!

    ʾa-fa-tumārūnahū ʿalā mā yarā

13. ولقد رآه نزلة أخرى

    13

    Certainly he saw it yet another time,

    wa-la-qad raʾāhu nazlatan ʾukhrā

14. عند سدرة المنتهى

    14

    by the Lote Tree of the Ultimate Boundary,

    ʿinda sidrati l-muntahā

15. عندها جنة المأوى

    15

    near which is the Garden of the Abode,

    ʿindahā jannatu l-maʾwā

16. إذ يغشى السدرة ما يغشى

    16

    when there covered the Lote Tree what covered it.

    ʾidh yaghshā s-sidrata mā yaghshā

17. ما زاغ البصر وما طغى

    17

    His gaze did not swerve, nor did it overstep the bounds.

    mā zāgha l-baṣaru wa-mā ṭaghā

18. لقد رأى من آيات ربه الكبرى

    18

    Certainly he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord.

    la-qad raʾā min ʾāyāti rabbihi l-kubrā

19. أفرأيتم اللات والعزى

    19

    Have you considered Lat and ‘Uzza?

    ʾa-fa-raʾaytumu l-lāta wa-l-ʿuzzā

20. ومناة الثالثة الأخرى

    20

    and Manat, the third one?

    wa-manāta th-thālithata l-ʾukhrā

21. ألكم الذكر وله الأنثى

    21

    Are you to have males and He females?

    ʾa-lakumu dh-dhakaru wa-lahu l-ʾunthā

22. تلك إذا قسمة ضيزى

    22

    That, then, will be an unfair division!

    tilka ʾidhan qismatun ḍīzā

23. إن هي إلا أسماء سميتموها أنتم وآباؤكم ما أنزل الله بها من سلطان إن يتبعون إلا الظن وما تهوى الأنفس ولقد جاءهم من ربهم الهدى

    23

    These are but names, which you have coined—you and your fathers—for which Allah has not sent down any authority. They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul, while there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord.

    ʾin hiya ʾillā ʾasmāʾun sammaytumūhā ʾantum wa-ʾābāʾukum mā ʾanzala llāhu bihā min sulṭānin ʾin yattabiʿūna ʾillā ẓ-ẓanna wa-mā tahwā l-ʾanfusu wa-la-qad jāʾahum min rabbihimu l-hudā

24. أم للإنسان ما تمنى

    24

    Shall man have whatever he yearns for?

    ʾam li-l-ʾinsāni mā tamannā

25. فلله الآخرة والأولى

    25

    Yet to Allah belong this world and the Hereafter.

    fa-li-llāhi l-ʾākhiratu wa-l-ʾūlā

26. وكم من ملك في السماوات لا تغني شفاعتهم شيئا إلا من بعد أن يأذن الله لمن يشاء ويرضى

    26

    How many an angel there is in the heavens whose intercession is of not any avail, except after Allah permits whomever He wishes and approves of!

    wa-kam min malakin fī s-samāwāti lā tughnī shafāʿatuhum shayʾan ʾillā min baʿdi ʾan yaʾdhana llāhu li-man yashāʾu wa-yarḍā