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Allah
Almighty says what means: [And a sign to them is the night: We
draw forth from it the day, then lo! they are in the dark; And the
sun runs on to a term appointed for it; that is the ordinance of
the Mighty, the Knowing. And (as for) the moon, We have ordained
for it stages till it becomes again as an old dry palm branch. It
is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night
outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.]
(Ya-Sin 36:
37-40).
Night
and day are closely related, yet they seem to carry antonymous
indications in the sense that night indicates darkness and
stillness, while day refers to light and movement. The moon and
the sun are also closely related, though the moon appears in the
night, while the sun rises during the day. The moon reflects light
from the sun back to the earth.
Allah
Almighty has created the universe in an accurate and marvelous
system. The sun, the earth, the moon, and all other planets with
the bodies and moons related to them float in space with a certain
speed and in a certain direction. The sun with its solar system
and many other stars are located in a huge galaxy, the Milky Way.
The stars in the disk of the galaxy orbit around its center, each
at a speed relevant to its distance from the center. The sun moves
at a speed of more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) per second and
takes about 200 million light years to complete one revolution
around the center of the galaxy.
The
sun cannot catch up with the moon, nor can the moon overtake the
sun, for each moves in a separate orbit that makes their
overtaking each other impossible. The Qur'anic reference to the
movements of the sun and the moon as floating in spheres is in
conformity with the scientific discoveries made in that respect,
which shows the truthfulness of the Qur'an. Glory be to Allah
Who created the universe in the best way.
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