Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Introduction

The Qur’an contains numerous qasam (oaths) in which God swears by elements of the natural and metaphysical world – from cosmic bodies like the sun, moon, and stars to earthly phenomena like wind, mountains, and the cycle of night and day, even abstract concepts like time (al-ʿasr) and the human soul (al-nafs). In classical Arabic oratory, such oaths serve as a powerful rhetorical device to grab the listener’s attention and underscore the importance of the message to follow. The Qur’an employs this device masterfully: unlike humans (who in Islamic teaching should only swear by God), God may swear by any aspect of creation to assert His dominion over it and to highlight its significance thequran.love. The entities chosen for these oaths – the sun and moon, the sky and earth, the winds and rain, the alternating night and day, the male and female, etc. – are themselves presented as grand signs of divine wisdom and power in nature thequran.love. By swearing upon these familiar yet awe-inspiring phenomena, the Qur’an invites the reader to reflect on their harmony, precision, and purpose. In doing so, the Qur’an “draws attention to the order and purpose in nature” and uses these signs as evidence of the truth of God’s message thequran.love.

Crucially, the oath and the ensuing message are intimately connected: the Qur’an’s oaths “serve to underscore the significance and truth of the ensuing message” thequran.love. In Islamic scholarship, it is noted that the gravity of the thing sworn by adds weight to the truth being affirmed. As Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and others observed, the emphatic style of these oaths bolsters certainty in core tenets like the oneness of God and the reality of resurrection islamweb.net. In fact, the Qur’an itself outlines multiple purposes for its oaths, including: emphasizing fundamental beliefs (e.g. God’s oneness), affirming the divine origin of the revelation, and directing attention to the certainty of the Day of Judgment thequran.love. In what follows, we will examine the major Quranic oaths by natural and cosmic phenomena – such as the sun, moon, stars, winds, sky, earth, mountains, dawn, night, and soul – and how they are used to argue for (1) Monotheism (Tawḥīd), (2) The Afterlife (Ākhirah), and (3) The divine origin and truth of the Qur’an. Along the way, we will highlight insights from classical tafsīr (exegesis) – including commentary by al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, and al-Rāzī – and integrate modern scientific observations that illuminate the wisdom in these verses. The tone of our exploration will remain scholarly yet accessible, decoding the theological reasoning behind the oaths and appreciating the scientific marvels they gesture toward.

Oaths Affirming Monotheism (Tawḥīd)

One of the primary aims of Quranic oaths is to lead the mind toward recognizing Tawḥīd, the absolute oneness of God. By invoking the most magnificent and orderly aspects of creation, the Qur’an implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) argues that the harmony in nature points to a single, all-powerful Creator. The reasoning is straightforward: a universe governed by multiple gods or forces would be chaotic and disjointed, but what we observe is an intricately regulated cosmos, suggesting one supreme orchestrator. The Qur’an encapsulates this in the rhetorical question: “Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined” (21:22). Thus, when Allah swears by celestial and terrestrial phenomena, the subtext is that only the One who created and controls these mighty forces has the authority to make such an oath, and that the coordinated functioning of these phenomena testifies to His oneness.

Examples of Oaths Emphasizing One Creator: The Quranic oaths often directly link to statements of God’s oneness. A clear example is the opening of Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt: “By those [angels] lined up in rows, and those who drive [the clouds], and those who recite the message, indeed your God is One.” (37:1–4). Here, Allah swears by the orderly ranks of angels (or forces of nature, according to some exegeses) to underscore the unity of the Divine thequran.love. The very structure of the oath – multiple agents acting in harmony – reinforces the message of a single coordinating Lord. Likewise, Sūrat al-Shams (91:1–7) stacks a series of oaths by the sun and its radiant morning light, the moon as it follows the sun, the day as it unveils the world, the night as it enshrouds it, the lofty sky, the expansive earth, and the human soul perfected by God. The cumulative effect of swearing by all these wonders of creation is to draw the listener’s attention to the magnificent order of the cosmos and the self. Classical commentators note that this surah contains an unprecedented seven oaths – more than any other in the Qur’an – which signals the weightiness of the truth to follow islamweb.net. In fact, Ibn Kathīr remarks that “Allah swears by His creation” in this passage so as to affirm the lesson that follows – in this case, the moral truth that “he who purifies his soul succeeds, and he who corrupts it fails” honeyfortheheart.wordpress.com. By invoking the whole cosmos and the soul within, the Qur’an is effectively saying: the same One God who established this vast, balanced creation is the One who endowed your soul with a moral compass – there is no chaos or partnership in His work.

Underlining God’s sole sovereignty over natural cycles is a recurring theme. When the Qur’an swears “By the night as it covers, and by the day as it brightens” (92:1–2) or “By the dawn” (89:1) and “By the fading evening (al-ʿaṣr)” (103:1), it is not merely pointing to times of day but to the regularity and governance behind them. The alternation of night and day is so precise that one can set a clock by it – a fact the Qur’an often cites as a sign of divine governance: “He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night” (39:5). The tafsīr literature emphasizes that no one apart from God could maintain this flawless rhythm. As one analysis puts it: **“By swearing by night and day, God emphasizes that He alone controls time and rhythm. The precise orbiting of the sun and the rotation of Earth (described phenomenologically in the Qur’an) are signs of tawḥīd – no one else could regulate this grand cosmic alternation” thequran.love. Indeed, the Qur’an swears by the sun and moon in tandem — “By the sun and its morning brightness, and by the moon as it follows it” (91:1–2) — hinting that these two great lights operate in a coordinated relay. The sun’s light dominates the day and the moon reflects light by night, each one “following” or succeeding the other in a perfectly ordained cycle. This coordination impressed pre-modern commentators as a sign of singular divine management. Imam al-Rāzī, for instance, mused on the necessity of the day-night cycle: if there were only perpetual daylight with no night, the burning heat would annihilate life, whereas endless night would freeze and halt all growth – thus the very alternation of light and dark is a finely balanced provision from a Wise Sustainer thequran.love. Modern science strongly confirms this insight. We now know that many creatures (including humans) require a daily period of darkness for metabolic rest and repair (circadian rhythm), and plants depend on the cyclical light for photosynthesis while also needing the nightly pause to conserve energy. Continuous light or continuous darkness would indeed upset life’s equilibrium thequran.love. Moreover, the Earth’s rotation speed and 23.5° axial tilt are “tuned” precisely to produce moderate day-night lengths and seasons. If our planet rotated significantly faster or slower, or lacked its tilt, the consequences would be catastrophic – severe temperature extremes, unlivable weather patterns, or no seasonal variation thequran.love. In other words, the fundamental cycles that make earthly life possible are not random – they speak of calibration and intent, consistent with there being one Intentional Designer. The Qur’anic oaths by the “two Easts and two Wests” (referring to the extreme points of sunrise and sunset through the year, Qur’an 55:17) allude poetically to this regulated shifting of seasons thequran.love. For a 7th-century audience, the daily miracle of dawn after darkness or spring after winter was a palpable sign that the world is under the care of a single benevolent Lord – and the Qur’an urges them (and us) to recognize it.

Beyond cosmic order, the Qur’an’s oaths also point to purposeful design in paired phenomena. Sūrat al-Layl (92) not only swears by night and day but also by *“He who created male and female” (92:3). This draws attention to the fundamental pairing built into creation, from biological sexes to all kinds of complementary opposites. The existence of such purposeful pairs, working together to perpetuate life, is another signature of a sole Creator who “creates in pairs all things” (cf. 36:36, 51:49). Classical scholars note that the contrast of night/day in this surah prefaces a contrast in human behavior (the generous versus the miserly) thequran.love – but it also carries a theological lesson: just as night and day or male and female are perfectly matched counterparts, so too God’s attributes of rigor and mercy operate in balance. The oath by the Creator of male and female implies that the duality we see in the world is intentional, not the clash of rival gods. It takes a single Murabbī (Cherishing Lord) to unite opposites into a fruitful harmony.

In summary, the Qur’anic oaths by natural phenomena lead to a powerful argument for monotheism: the unity, order, and balance witnessed in nature reflect the unity of its Originator. Each oath effectively says, “Consider this marvelous phenomenon – its existence and regularity aren’t by chance, but by the command of the One God.” When Allah swears “by the sky with its well-organized pathways” (51:7), for example, He is drawing our attention to the structured cosmos above – what one modern commentator likened to an “interwoven cosmic web” of galaxies – as if to say: the vast heavens with all their galaxies testify to the power of One Creator. Classical exegetes like al-Ṭabarī often gloss the oath phrases by explaining the literal meanings (e.g. “wa’l-shams wa ḍuḥāhā” – “By the sun and its radiant forenoon” – meaning, by the sun and the daylight it causes honeyfortheheart.wordpress.com). But they also understood the implied argument: God’s swearing by these mighty created things signals their importance as proof of Himself. He who controls the sun, moon, stars and all the elements of existence thereby attests to the truth of His own oneness thequran.love. The faithful are thus encouraged to ponder the natural world as a visible testament to tawḥīd, and not to ascribe the wonders they see – be it the life-giving sun or the rain-bearing winds – to any lesser deity or force. All glory for these marvels belongs to Allah alone.

Oaths Alluding to the Afterlife (Ākhirah)

Another central purpose of the Qur’an’s oaths is to affirm the reality of the Ākhirah – the life to come, including resurrection of the dead and the Day of Judgment. The Qur’an often connects its qasam (oath) sections with ensuing verses about the inevitability of recompense, using phenomena in the present world as analogies or evidence for what will occur in the hereafter. The logic here is both analogical and emphatic: the same Omnipotence that governs the cycles of nature can surely bring the dead back to life, and just as certain as the occurrence of these natural phenomena is the coming of the Last Day. Thus, Allah swears by signs people witness regularly – dawn after darkness, rain reviving barren land, the turning of the seasons – to drive home the point that resurrection and judgment are not fanciful, but as real and reliable as the rising of the sun or the falling of rain.

Natural Cycles as Analogies for Resurrection: The Qur’an frequently draws a parallel between the cycle of death-and-rebirth in nature and the promised resurrection of human beings. For example, the daily emergence of morning from the depths of night is a sign that new life can emerge after a period of darkness and stillness. In Sūrat al-Fajr (89:1), Allah swears “by the daybreak” – a symbol of hope and awakening – which can be seen as alluding to the Great Dawn when graves will open. A commentary notes: “Allah causes the dawn to break… and makes the night for rest” (6:96) – He who can bring the dawn each day can bring the dawn of resurrection after the long night of death thequran.love. In fact, the Qur’an explicitly ties the image of daybreak to resurrection in some verses: “On the Day the Hour comes, the wicked will swear they had remained [in the grave] but an hour… But those endowed with knowledge and faith will say: ‘You remained according to God’s decree until the Day of Resurrection…’” and elsewhere, “[On Judgment Day,] it will be as though they had stayed [dead] only one evening or its morning” (79:46). These passages liken the experience of waking up on Judgment Day to the feeling of having slept just a short night – a direct analogy to how dawn follows night thequran.love. By swearing “wal-layli idhā yaghshā, wal-nahāri idhā tajallā” (“By the night as it conceals, and the day as it reveals itself,” 92:1–2), and then proceeding to discuss the fates awaiting the generous and the stingy, the Qur’an hints that just as surely as day alternates with night, there will be an awakening after death when deeds are laid bare thequran.love. The constant, uninterrupted succession of day and night throughout human history is presented as a guarantee of God’s unfailing promise – a kind of natural parable that after every darkness comes light, and after the darkness of the grave shall come the light of Resurrection thequran.love.

Agricultural cycles offer another powerful analogy. Although not always introduced by an oath, the Qur’an often reminds us of dead earth brought back to life by rain as a sign of resurrection: “And Allah sends down water from the sky and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness. Indeed in that is a sign for people who listen” (16:65). This concept appears so frequently that the exegete Ibn Kathīr comments: “almost every time the Qur’an mentions the reviving of earth with rain, it says ‘thus you shall be raised [from the dead]’” thequran.love. Now, in Sūrat al-Ṭāriq (86), we find these natural images employed in a sworn oath: “By the sky which returns [rain], and by the earth which cracks open [for sprouts]!” (86:11–12). Allah takes an oath by the rain-bearing sky and the soil that splits to bring forth new life, immediately drawing our minds to the miracle of germination surahquran.com. Dry, hard earth that seemed dead is suddenly seen teeming with shoots after a rainfall – a “small everyday miracle” as one writer describes, involving soil hydration and seed pressure breaking the ground thequran.love. Modern soil science has illuminated this process: when rain permeates the soil, dormant seeds and plant embryos absorb water and swell, generating enough force to burst through the ground’s crust. The Qur’an invokes this familiar event as a prototype of resurrection. Just as the earth splitting after rain reveals a hidden life within, the graves will split open at the trumpet blast, bringing forth humans who thought their bodies lost. It is notable that in the very next verses of Sūrat al-Ṭāriq, after swearing by rain and sprouting earth, Allah says: “Indeed, this [Qur’an] is a decisive word, and it is not amusement” (86:13–14). The oath thus ties together the resurrection analogy and the truth of the Qur’an’s warning, implying that the Qur’an’s message of resurrection is as serious and certain as the rain that brings life from soil thequran.love.

Explicit Oaths Confirming the Hereafter: In several passages, the Qur’an leaves no ambiguity about the connection between the oath and the hereafter – the oath is immediately followed by an affirmation of resurrection or judgment. For example, Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt begins: “By the [winds] that scatter [dust], and those that bear heavy loads [clouds], and those that flow with ease, and those that apportion by command… indeed, what you are promised is true, and indeed the Judgment (Day of Recompense) will surely occur.” (51:1–6). Here four consecutive oaths – widely understood to be describing winds or angels performing tasks in the natural order – are used to assert the certainty of what we are promised (resurrection and judgment) thequran.love. Classical commentators like al-Ṭabarī explain that the “promise” refers to the Resurrection and Recompense, which the disbelievers were apt to doubt. By swearing on the winds and rain – phenomena that were tangible and whose effects (like rain bringing crops) were experienced – the Qur’an is essentially saying: as surely as these winds blow and clouds carry rain, so shall the Final Hour come. Modern readers might additionally observe that the description given in these verses uncannily summarizes the water cycle: winds disperse seeds and dust, lift moisture (cloud “loads”), spread the clouds, and then the rains are distributed – a process science fully corroborates. A 7th-century listener knew empirically that the winds and rain reliably bring life to the earth; the Qur’an leverages that reliability to instill confidence in the coming of the hereafter. Sūrat al-Mursalāt (77) offers a parallel: “By the emissary winds, sent forth one after another…” and after five verses of oath, concludes “Surely what you are promised will happen” (77:1–7)al-islam.org. In both surahs, the reply to the oath (jawāb al-qasam) is an emphatic confirmation of the Day of Resurrection, leaving no doubt about the purpose of the oath.

Even the mountains – symbols of stability – are invoked in oaths that carry eschatological implications. Sūrat al-Ṭūr opens with a series of solemn oaths: “By the Mount [Sinai], and by a Scripture inscribed… and by the frequented House [in heaven], and by the lofty canopy [sky], and by the surging sea…” (52:1–6). After swearing by these grand entities – a sacred mountain, holy scripture, the celestial house of angels, the high firmament, and the mighty ocean – the very next verse warns: “Indeed, the punishment of your Lord will certainly come to pass. No one can avert it.” (52:7–8). The oath draws our attention to things considered immovable or enduring (mountains, sky, sea) and then pointedly reminds us that the Judgment is even more unshakable. In a fascinating commentary, scholars point out that there is also a nuance here: the mountains and seas, as permanent as they appear now, will themselves be unmade when the true permanence of the Hereafter arrives thequran.love. The Qur’an says “On the Day we set the mountains in motion, and you see the earth laid bare…” (18:47) and “the sea will be set ablaze” (81:6, 52:6). Thus, a classical reflection is that while mountains are firm now (anchoring the earth and providing refuge), one day even they will crumble before God’s power. “These grand mountains are precious signs now – pay heed while they stand – for one day even they will vanish before God’s presence. The mountain’s current steadfastness guarantees the message’s truth now, but don’t mistake the sign for the Sign-giver,” writes one author, expounding the oath by Mount Sinai thequran.love. In other words, the mountains’ existence testifies to God now (hence He swears by them), but their eventual destruction will testify to God’s wrath and the transient nature of the world. The oath serves to jolt the heedless listener: if even mountains and oceans are at Allah’s command, then the coming of Judgment Day is not so unbelievable after all. As Ibn Kathīr summarizes regarding 51:5, “the reckoning and reward which Allah promises you is true without doubt” surahquran.com – and the Qur’an’s oaths use the strongest realities we know as proof of that unseen yet certain reality to come.

Moral and Theological Underscoring: In many oath passages that hint at the afterlife, there is also a moral message – a call to reform one’s behavior in light of impending judgment. After swearing by the sun, moon, and all of nature’s order in Sūrat al-Shams (91), Allah concludes, “Indeed he succeeds who purifies his soul, and he fails who corrupts it” (91:9–10). This moral maxim is then illustrated by the story of Thamūd’s destruction for rejecting God’s sign (91:11–15). The structure is telling: cosmic oaths → moral truth → historical punishment. The oaths implicitly say: By all these signs in the world around you, know that God has set a moral order too, and the fate of Thamūd is a warning of the Hereafter’s justice. Ibn Kathīr highlights that Allah swore by all those creations to reinforce that crucial lesson of felicity versus loss honeyfortheheart.wordpress.com. Similarly, Sūrat al-Layl (92) swears by the night, the day, and the creation of male and female, and then pivots to the divergent destinies of the charitable believer versus the miserly denier, ending with promises of reward and threats of fire. The pairing of opposites in the oaths (night/day, male/female) mirrors the pairing of opposite outcomes (bliss for the righteous, misery for the wicked) – again linking the observable world to the unseen world to come thequran.love. In essence, the regularities of nature are presented as guarantees of the regularity of God’s moral law: “After hardship comes ease” (94:5–6) is both a spiritual truth and seen in every dawn after night thequran.love. The believer is meant to draw solace and conviction from this: just as we are sure the sun will rise tomorrow, we can be sure that God’s promise of justice will be fulfilled.

From a modern perspective, our expanded understanding of natural cycles only deepens the resonance of these Quranic arguments. We know now, for instance, that certain seeds can lie dormant in desert soil for years and spring to life almost immediately after a rainfall – literal “resurrection plants.” We have discovered animals that can enter suspended animation (like tardigrades or certain frogs) and then revive, as if waking from death. The conservation of matter and energy in physics (matter doesn’t disappear; it only changes form) echoes the Quranic reasoning that re-creation is like initial creation (Qur’an 36:79). None of these are proof of the hereafter in a scientific sense, but they serve as gentle analogies that make the concept of resurrection more imaginable to the human mind. The Qur’an’s oath by the rain and splitting earth (86:11–14) brilliantly ties together natural science and eschatological faith: we see with our eyes how life emerges from death in nature, so we should trust that “He who gave life to the earth after its death will likewise resurrect the dead” thequran.love. The oath calls on us to witness a mini-resurrection every time it rains. Similarly, every morning after the night is a reminder that “darkness” is not the end of the story – God can bring light when He wills. Through its oaths, the Qur’an thus uses the permanence of natural law as a metaphor for the certainty of divine promise. Just as the natural world follows appointed laws, the moral universe will follow suit: a Day of accounting will arrive, as surely as the orbiting planets arrive on schedule. In summary, the Quranic oaths related to the hereafter serve a dual function: they provide signs (āyāt) in the present world that foreshadow the future world, and they emphatically assert the truth of resurrection by reference to undeniable aspects of reality. For those willing to reflect, every sunrise and every spring become sermons in miniature on revival, and the Quran’s sworn testimonies aim to turn our daily observations into reminders of the life to come.

Oaths Confirming the Qur’an’s Divine Origin and Truth

A third major rationale behind the Quranic oaths is to authenticate the Qur’an itself as the true, divine revelation and to validate the prophethood of Muhammad (ﷺ). In several instances, Allah swears by monumental aspects of creation specifically to assert the truth of the Qur’an’s message or the veracity of the Prophet who conveys it. This usage elevates the Qur’an above human conjecture: by calling cosmic witnesses to the Qur’an’s truth, it is implied that the only one capable of authoring such a message is the Creator of those cosmic realities. Moreover, the content of the oaths often contains subtle scientific or historical knowledge that underscores the claim that the Qur’an is not a product of human imagination but a revelation from the Lord of the universe.

One of the most striking examples is found in Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah (56:75–82): “So I swear by the positions of the stars – and indeed, if you knew, it is a tremendous oath – indeed it is a noble Qur’an, in a well-preserved Book [in heaven]…”. Here Allah Himself draws attention to the remarkable nature of the oath: “if you only knew, this is a mighty oath”. He swears by “the positions (or setting-points) of the stars” before declaring the Qur’an to be “karīm” (noble, exalted) and preserved on a tablet that no falsehood can touch. Classical commentators have offered various interpretations of “mawāqiʿ al-nujūm” – it could mean the orbits of the stars, the moments of their setting, or even (metaphorically) the piecemeal revelation of the Qur’anic verses (each descent of revelation compared to a star falling into place). Many, however, take it at face value: Allah is swearing by the vast heavens filled with stars. What makes this oath especially compelling is that it is immediately tied to the Qur’an’s authenticity: “Indeed, it is a noble Qur’an.” It is as if Allah were saying, “By all the stars in their perfect, ordained positions – this Qur’an is truly from the Lord of the Worlds.” One commentary articulates it thus: He who controls the stars and sets them in their immense array attests to the truth of this revelation thequran.love. The next verses in the surah emphasize that the Qur’an is beyond the reach of devils, sent down by the Lord of the Worlds (56:80). Thus, the very cosmos is called upon as a witness to the Quran’s divinity thequran.love.

Modern scientific insight adds even greater awe to this oath. The “positions of the stars” are indeed a “tremendous” thing: today we know that the stars are not tiny points of light stuck on a crystal sphere (as ancient people might have imagined) but gigantic suns scattered across unimaginable distances in space. The light from some stars travels hundreds or thousands of years before reaching our eyes – meaning we often see stars where they were, not where they are at this moment. The Quranic phrase mawāqiʿ al-nujūm can be understood in that sense: the locations where the stars appear to us (which is itself a profound truth, since we perceive their past positions). As one writer notes, the fixed patterns of constellations visible to the naked eye belie an underlying vastness – each “pinpoint” is actually a massive sun, and between them lie unthinkable stretches of space thequran.love. The cosmic perspective of the 21st century makes the oath “I swear by the positions of the stars” even more powerful – truly, if we only knew how great an oath that was, as the verse itself says. By inviting us to ponder astronomy, the Qur’an not only elevates our gaze to the heavens but also underscores the extraordinary nature of the Qur’an’s origin. The reasoning could be summarized: Only the Creator of this vast, law-bound cosmos could be the author of this scripture. In this vein, scholars have commented that the stars are invoked in the Qur’an to “authenticate the Qur’anic message”, lifting them from objects of superstition (as in astrology) to symbols of God’s majesty and the truth of His guidance. It is no coincidence that when the Qur’an swears “By the star when it sets” in Sūrat al-Najm (53:1), the verses that follow defend the Prophet ﷺ’s veracity (53:2–4) – “your companion [Muhammad] has not strayed or erred… it is but a revelation revealed”. Thus, the setting of a star in the sky prefaces the “rising” of the true guidance in Muhammad’s heart, so to speak. Classical tafsīr, like that of al-Qurṭubī, often notes here that Arabs would swear by Venus or other stars, but the Qur’an redirects that cultural practice to a theological point: the Lord of the Star is vouching for the Prophet.

Another clear example of an oath affirming the Qur’an’s truth is in Sūrat al-Ṭāriq (86), which we touched on earlier. After swearing “by the sky which returns [rain]” and “the earth which splits [with growth]”, verses 13–14 declare: “Indeed, it [the Qur’an] is a decisive word (qaulun faṣl), and it is not in jest.” Here the oath by a recurring natural phenomenon (rainfall and crop germination) serves to emphasize the seriousness and truth of the Qur’anic message thequran.love. Just as one cannot doubt the reality of rain bringing forth life, one should not doubt that this Qur’an separates truth from falsehood and is no fabrication. Ibn Kathīr comments on 86:11 that “Allah took an oath by the sky that contains rain, because it comes down repeatedly, time after time” surahquran.com – highlighting the sky’s role in sustaining life. Then, by invoking the penetrating power of the Qur’an’s words (versus the penetrating rain in soil), the text draws a parallel: the revelation repeatedly comes to renew faith just as rain renews the earth. Indeed, some exegetes add that just as rain revives dead land, the Qur’an revives dead hearts thequran.love. In this way, the oath not only authenticates the Qur’an (by tying it to a heavenly sign) but also illustrates its effect.

The Qur’an also swears by earlier sacred symbols to establish its own continuity in the line of revelation. In Sūrat al-Tīn (95:1–4), Allah swears “By the fig and the olive, and by Mount Sinai, and by this secure city [Mecca]”, then states, “We have certainly created man in the best stature…” and eventually, “This is the religion of truth” (95:4–6,8). Classical commentators like al-Ṭabarī and Ibn Kathīr report a consensus that “the fig and the olive” refer symbolically to the lands of those trees – i.e. the Holy Land of Palestine (where figs and olives abound, and where Prophet Jesus preached), Mount Sinai refers to where Prophet Moses received revelation, and “this secure city” is the city of Mecca, where Prophet Muhammad received the Qur’an thequran.love. Thus, God is swearing by the sites of three great revelations – the locus of Jesus’s ministry, the mountain of the Torah, and the sanctuary of the Ka‘bah and Qur’an. By invoking these sanctified places, “God in the Qur’an is invoking shared sacred history to validate the current message.” It is as if Sinai and the Holy Land are called as witnesses that the same God who spoke to Moses and Jesus is now speaking to Muhammad. Al-Rāzī in his tafsīr finds in these oaths a hint of the successive missions: the fig and olive –> Gospel, Sinai –> Torah, secure city –> Qur’an. The oath implies a continuum of divine guidance: the Qur’an does not come out of the blue, but as the fulfillment of a long-standing covenant. Indeed, Allah’s oath “By the Mount (al-ṭūr)” at the start of Sūrat al-Ṭūr (52:1) similarly calls to mind Mount Sinai. Immediately after, Allah swears by “a Scripture inscribed on an unrolled scroll” thequran.love, which many Mufassirūn say could be the Quran itself or the Heavenly Tablet – but it inevitably reminds one of the tablets of the Law given to Moses. The pairing of the Mount and the Scripture in that oath is profound: it “evokes Moses receiving the Tablets on the Mount and Muhammad receiving the Qur’an on the mount of Ḥirā”, drawing a parallel between the two events thequran.love. In doing so, the Qur’an subtly positions itself as the next chapter in the story of revelation, certified by the same sacred mountain that thundered with God’s word before. This lends tremendous credence to the Prophet’s mission in the eyes of those who understand these allusions. Far from being a novel aberration, the Qur’an is shown to be in harmony with the past – the very geography of holiness (Sinai, Zion, Mecca) testifies to it. In summary, the Qur’an’s oaths by historical or sacred phenomena serve to bridge the new revelation with the old, affirming that it comes from the same Source.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Allah even swears by the Qur’an itself in the Qur’an, further underscoring its divine status. For instance, “Yā Sīn. By the wise Qur’an, indeed you, [O Muhammad], are among the messengers.” (36:1–3). And “Ḥā Mīm. By the clear Book, indeed We sent it down on a blessed night…” (44:1–3). These are not oaths by natural phenomena, so they fall outside our main scope, but they complete the picture: the Qur’an’s truth is affirmed on the tongue of God both by His creation and by His word. When coupled with oaths by cosmic signs, the message is that the Creator of the universe and the Revealer of the Qur’an are one and the same. Therefore, His creation and His revelation both speak to the same truth.

Classical and Scientific Reflections: Classical scholars were keenly aware of how the Quranic oaths defended the Qur’an’s own miraculous nature. They often mention that Allah uses grand imagery to silence doubts. For example, when people questioned how an illiterate man could produce such scripture, the Qur’an responds by swearing by the heavenly bodies and natural wonders – implying that the Author is the Lord of these wonders. Al-Rāzī even mused that the mention “if you only knew, it’s a tremendous oath” in 56:76 indicates that people of later times (with more knowledge of the stars) would appreciate this oath even more; in his view, it was a hint that the depth of the Qur’an’s words would unfold as human knowledge advanced. Modern commentators have picked up on this as well, noting that the Quran’s cosmological references, while not “science” per se, often align with reality in a noteworthy way. For instance, the Qur’an describes the sky as “a canopy without cracks” (50:6) and speaks of “seven heavens in layers” (67:3) – pre-modern exegesis took “seven heavens” to mean layers of skies or celestial realms, and interestingly, today scientists speak of layered atmospheres (troposphere, stratosphere, etc.) and even multidimensional space in cosmology. The Qur’an says “We have built the heaven with might, and We are expanding it” (51:47) – classical scholars like al-Ṭabarī read “expanding” as “vast in expanse”, but modern astrophysics famously discovered that the universe is literally expanding. Such harmonies, while not the focus of classical tafsīr, nonetheless strengthen the believer’s conviction that the Qur’an is from the Knower of all things, not the product of human myth or error.

In our context of oaths, one could say: when Allah swears by the stars, the winds, the mountains, or the rain, He is indirectly inviting us to investigate these phenomena – for in doing so, we often end up even more impressed with the Quranic statements about them. The article we drew from notes: “In swearing by the stars, the Qur’an effectively invites us to ponder astronomy… reflecting on stars underscores the Qur’an’s truthfulness” thequran.love. Likewise, swearing by the winds bearing rain in 51:1-6 prompted us to outline the water cycle – which the Qur’an encapsulated in a few potent words that ring true to anyone who studies meteorology. These convergences between Quranic imagery and modern science are not coincidences but, for believers, ayāt (signs) of the Qur’an’s authenticity. As one researcher succinctly put it: the Quranic oaths “verify that the Quranic call to faith is backed by the very heavens.” Indeed, the famous verse 41:53 comes to mind: “We will show them Our signs in the horizons and in themselves until it becomes clear to them that this [revelation] is the Truth”. The oaths by natural phenomena can be seen as an early announcement of this reality: the more humanity discovers about the horizons (i.e. the universe), the more we find confirmation that the Qur’an speaks truth.

Conclusion

Through a tapestry of oaths by the sun and stars, the winds and skies, the mountains and oceans, the dawn and dusk – even the soul within – the Qur’an engages both heart and intellect to drive home its central themes. Monotheism (Tawḥīd) is affirmed as the only logical explanation for the unity and precision evident in the cosmos: the sun, moon, and stars all follow appointed courses set by One Master, and the paired phenomena of day/night or male/female display a single integrating wisdom. Resurrection and the Afterlife (Ākhirah) are illustrated and guaranteed by the recurring “resurrections” we witness in nature – every new day, every spring, every drop of rain brings life from death, heralding the ultimate Resurrection to come. And the Divine origin of the Qur’an is sworn to by the grandeur of creation itself: the Lord of the cosmic pathways and distant stars vouches that this Qur’an is no mortal product but a “noble message” sent down for our guidance thequran.love. Classical scholars like al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, and al-Rāzī dissected these oaths with devotion – explaining vocabulary, relating anecdotes, and always circling back to the theological thrust: God chooses the weightiest of His creations to witness the truth of His words honeyfortheheart.wordpress.com thequran.love. Modern science, rather than diminishing the impact of these verses, has amplified their resonance. Whether it’s understanding the delicate balance of the earth’s rotation that makes life possible thequran.love or the vastness of the starry heavens that dwarf our imaginations, we find that knowledge and faith are not at odds here but in harmony. Each new discovery becomes another thread in the “rope of God” that, according to the Qur’an, extends to us from the skies (3:103) – a rope we can grasp to climb from doubt to certainty.

In a scholarly yet accessible tone, we have seen that the Quranic oaths are far more than poetic flourish. They form a cohesive argument built into the very structure of revelation: **the universe is full of signs that point to its single Creator, signs that assure us of life after death, and signs that validate the Qur’an as the map to navigate that destiny. To a believer, when the Qur’an says “By the morning brightness” or “By time, indeed mankind is in loss”, these words strike with both beauty and proof. They remind us that time, that silent witness to our deeds, will deliver us to a Day of reckoning; that the morning, which ended the Prophet’s night of despair (93:1-3), will also end the long night of this world’s injustices; that the winds and rain, which mercy forth life, herald the greater Mercy of resurrection; and that the stars, fixed in their courses, were not worshipped in vain by ancients but now serve a higher purpose – guiding not just sailors at night but guiding all humanity to gaze upwards and recognize the Author of this majestic scripture thequran.love. Each oath-laden verse is thus like a signpost: Look around you, O reader – the natural world itself confirms what you are reading. This interplay of āyāt kawniyyah (signs in the cosmos) and āyāt qur’āniyyah (signs in the Qur’an) is one of the hallmarks of the Qur’an’s miraculous eloquence.

In conclusion, the Quranic oaths (qasam) by natural and conceptual phenomena weave together scientific observation, theological doctrine, and spiritual lesson in a remarkably unified way. They speak simultaneously to the simple Bedouin shepherd who knows the stars and rain by experience, and to the modern scientist who knows them by theory and measurement. Both are invited to faith through reflection. As Zamakhsharī once noted, God swears by great things to jolt those who might otherwise take His words lightly – for who can hear “By the Sun!” or “By the Sky full of paths!” and not be stirred to attention? And once our attention is captured, the Qur’an directs it to the ultimate truths: One God, one moral order, and one final return of all creation to its Creator. The oaths thus function as beacons in the text, illuminating these truths from different angles. They harmonize the “book of scripture” with the “book of nature,” making all creation a witness to Allah’s oneness, His justice in the hereafter, and the truth of His revelation thequran.love. For those who contemplate these oaths, every sunrise, every starry night, every gentle rain becomes a reminder that “Allah is the Truth and what they call upon besides Him is false, and that Allah is the Most High, the Great” (22:62). The Qur’an’s swearing by the cosmos is, in the end, an invitation to see the cosmos as a mosque – a place of prostration to the One who created all things in pairs, in perfect measure, and swore by them for our enlightenment.

Sources: The analysis above integrates classical exegesis (e.g. Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb by al-Rāzī) with contemporary commentary honeyfortheheart.wordpress.com, as well as scientific insights that shed light on Quranic allusions. Quranic verses are cited from the text with reference to authoritative translations (Abdel Haleem, Sahih International) and classical interpretations have been referenced to illustrate how Muslim scholarship has long understood the purposeful connection between Quranic oaths and the themes of tawḥīd, ākhirah, and the truth of the Qur’an. The seamless concord between the Qur’an’s messages and the design of the natural world stands as a timeless testament to its divine origin – as the Qur’an itself says: “In this are signs for those who reflect”.