Sūrat al-Najm is the fifty-third chapter in the order of the codex and is a Meccan surah, although it has been related from Ibn Abbas and Qatādah that the verse Those who avoid major sins and indecencies (verse 32) was revealed in Medina. It is even related from Hasan al-Baṣrī that the whole surah was revealed in Medina, but these kinds of reports are not to be relied upon. The chapter contains an obligatory prostration and it is said to be the first surah revealed that contains obligatory prostration, but this is unlikely as Sūrat al-ʿAlaq was revealed before this and it contains obligatory prostration, unless we assume that the final verses of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq were revealed much later.
It is understood from the context of the verses and the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt that the early portion of the surah makes reference to the Night of Ascension (miʿrāj). The surah also begins with reference to Prophet Muhammad (s) seeing angel Gabriel and receiving revelation from him. These were matters with which the faithless Meccans used to ridicule the Prophet, claiming he had lost his mind and was a liar, but God declares, Your companion has neither gone astray, nor gone amiss (verse 2). This surah is meant to address this issue. God indeed spoke to Prophet Muhammad (s) through Gabriel and showed him wondrous things during the Night of Ascension, certainly he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord (verse 18). This was because the Prophet had achieved a station of great spirituality and closeness to God. The surah clarifies that matters of spiritual blessings and a status of closeness to the divine are not matters for human beings to decide as to whom it is given and whom not, for shall man have whatever he yearns for? (verse 24). Nay, even the angels cannot intercede on behalf of anyone unless it be by the leave of God, How many an angel there is in the heavens whose intercession is of no avail in any way except after Allah grants permission to whomever He wishes and approves of! (verse 26). With such closeness comes many spiritual merits and great and wondrous distinctions can be allotted to people.
Thus, the main theme of the surah can be summed up as spiritual eminence; how it is earned and how God gives of it to whom He wills. The merit of seeing Gabriel and ascending to see the astonishing signs of God was a distinction granted to the Prophet by God, and not one he had claimed for himself, unlike the polytheists who dictated by themselves that God had taken daughters and bequeathed the management of creation to them.
In the surah we are also told the story of a man who had given away some of his money, thinking to buy himself heaven (verses 33-35). The wealthy elite who were used to dictating worldly affairs and getting what they wanted, are reminded in the surah that their apparent worldly wealth and power does not avail them in spiritual matters, and they cannot dictate those in the same fashion they are used to dictating other affairs. The surah then closes with a reminder to them of what happened to previous nations who thought themselves in full control of all affairs.
It is said the surah was revealed in response to the polytheists who claimed that the Prophet had invented the Quran himself. This is unlikely; what is more reliable is what has been reported from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), that it was revealed when the Prophet came back from his Night of Ascension.
In the same report it is said that ʿUtbah ibn Abī Lahab was informed of this and he came to the Prophet, divorced his daughter, spat in his face, and said: ‘I have disbelieved in the star and the Lord of the star!’ The Prophet supplicated against him, saying: ‘God, send to him a dog from amongst your dogs.’ Later, ʿUtbah travelled to Syria and stopped on the way and was filled with fright. He told his companions to allow him to sleep in between them at night and they did so, but a lion came that night and stole him from betwixt the people.
[1] Tibyan, 9/420; Zamakhshari, 4/416; Muhit, 10/9. [2] Tabrisi, 9/285; Zamakhshari, 4/416. [3] Tabrisi, 9/285. [4] Mizan, 19/26. [5] Ibn Kathir, 7/410. An obligatory prostration is when at the end of a specific verse, the reciter or one who hears the verse being recited should perform a prostration to God. [6] Nemuneh, 22/473, 578. [7] Mizan, 19/26. [8] Muhit, 10/9. [9] In some versions he tells him: ‘Do you not fear that a dog of God will eat you?’ (Tabari, 27/24). [10] Tabrisi, 9/285. With some variations Thalabi, 9/135; Zamakhshari, 4/417; Qurtubi, 17/83.