The Holy Quran 36:40 — Surah Ya-Sin

Arabic text

لَا ٱلشَّمْسُ يَنۢبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تُدْرِكَ ٱلْقَمَرَ وَلَا ٱلَّيْلُ سَابِقُ ٱلنَّهَارِ ۚ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

Translation

It is not possible for the sun to catch (overtake) the moon (so that the sun appears during the night), nor is it possible for the night to precede the day. They all (sun and moon) swim within their orbits (without entering the orbits of each other).

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

The heavenly bodies swimming in their orbits: the sun’s dominion is in the day and the moon’s in the night. It cannot be that, while the moon is shedding its light, the sun should come and overpower it — that is, that the day should push forward and carry off part of the night, or that the night should get ahead and arrive before the day has ended.

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