of the sons of Adam. So when it sets, it greets, prostrates, and asks for permission, and it is permitted to do so. Then, when it sets and greets, it is not permitted for it. It says: 'The journey is long, and I have not been granted permission; I will not reach it.' So it is restrained for as long as Allah wills for it to be restrained. Then it is said to it: 'Rise from where you set.'" He said: "So from that day until the Day of Resurrection, 'its faith will not benefit a soul.'

18072 - From Ibn 'Amr, he said: "If the sun were to run along a single path for the people of the earth, they would be in fear of it. However, it follows a path in the summer and is positioned differently in the winter. If it were to rise at its winter rising point during the summer, the heat would consume them; and if it were to rise at its summer rising point during the winter, the cold would destroy them."

18073 - From Qatada, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "And the sun runs to a resting place for it," he said: "For its appointed time and for a term it does not overstep."

His saying, the Exalted: "Like the old date-stalk."

18074 - From Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, regarding His saying: "Like the old date-stalk," he means the base of the old fruit-stalk.

18075 - From al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "Like the old date-stalk," he said: "Like the fruit-stalk of a palm tree when it ages and becomes bent."

His saying, the Exalted: "The sun is not permitted to overtake the moon."

18076 - From Mujahid, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding "The sun is not permitted to overtake the moon," he said: "The light of one does not resemble the light of the other, and that is not suitable for them. And that is [also regarding the verse] 'nor does the night outstrip the day.'" He said: "They pursue each other quickly; one is stripped away from the other."

18077 - From Qatada, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "The sun is not permitted to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day," he said: "Each of them has a limit and a sign that it does not overstep, nor does it fall short of it. When the authority of this one comes, the authority of that one departs. And when the authority of this one comes, the authority of that one departs."

His saying, the Exalted: "Nor does the night outstrip the day."

18078 - From al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "The sun is not permitted to overtake the moon," he said: "That refers to the night of the new moon."