Verse 11
Those who set the Ranks • makkah
View Aspects
15:19; 67:6.
Important Words:
ثاقب (piercing) is derived from ثقب. They say ثقب الشیء i.e. he pierced the thing, made a small hole in it. ثقب الکوکب means, the star shone brightly as though it pierced through the darkness. ثقب رأیه means, his judgement was penetrating. ثاقب means a star, a lamp, fire; a flame or a shooting star shining brightly or things piercing through the darkness and dispelling it (Lane & Aqrab).
For شھاب see 15:19.
Commentary:
The words, "But he who snatches away something by stealth," signify that as long as the Word of God is preserved in the heavens it is quite safe and secure against all interference, stealing or snatching, but after it is revealed to a Prophet, "satans," or the enemies of God’s Prophets, seek to misrepresent or misinterpret it by misquoting the Prophet or by tearing a passage out of his revelation and mixing falsehood with it, or they even try to represent the Prophet’s teaching as their own.
The expression, "then there pursues him a piercing flame of fire," signifies that during the time when there is no Prophet or Divine Reformer in the world, satans, to a certain extent, succeed in hoodwinking simple-minded people, but with the coming of a Prophet or a Divine Reformer their falsehood becomes exposed and people can easily see the truth. شھاب ثاقبmay represent the Prophet of the day or the ever-living Prophet i.e. the Holy Prophet, from among whose followers Divine Reformers continue to bring to naught the wicked designs of "satans" seeking to tamper with the teachings of Islam.
The verse may also be taken as referring to the physical phenomenon of the falling of meteors at the time of the appearance of a Prophet or a great Divine Reformer. In the time of the Holy Prophet, meteors fell in such large numbers that disbelievers thought that both heaven and earth were about to fall asunder (Kathir, under 72:9). From Hadith, it appears that in the time of Jesus also meteors fell in unusually large numbers. With regard to his Second Coming the Gospels say: And there shall be the signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars (Matt. 24:29). Meteors also fell in exceptionally large numbers in 1885 when Ahmad, the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was about to announce his claim to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. For a detailed discussion of شھاب مبین (bright flame) and شھاب ثاقب(piercing flame) see 15:19.
15:19.
As long as the Word of God is preserved in the heavens it is quite safe and secure against all interference, stealing or snatching, but after it is revealed to a Prophet, 'satans,' or the enemies of God’s Prophets, seek to misrepresent or misinterpret it by misquoting the Prophet, or by tearing a passage out of his revelation and mixing much falsehood with it, or they even try to represent the Prophet’s teaching as their own. But their falsehood becomes exposed by the true exposition of his revelation by the Divine Reformer.