75۞ فَلا أُقسِمُ بِمَواقِعِ النُّجومِMuhammad AsadNAY, I call to witness the coming-down in parts [of this Qur'an]1 -Or: "the setting [or "orbiting"] of the stars". The term mawqi' (of which mawaqi is the plural) denotes the "time [or "place" or "manner"] at which something comes down". Although many of the commentators think that the phrase mawaqi an-nujum relates to the break-up of the stars at the Last Hour, Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ikrimah and As-Suddi were definitely of the opinion, strongly supported by the subsequent verses, that this phrase refers to the step-by-step revelation or "coming-down in parts (nujum)" - of the Qur'an (cf. Tabari and Ibn Kathir, see also note 1 on 53:1). By "calling to witness" the gradual manner of its revelation, the Qur'an points implicitly to the astounding fact that it has remained free of all inconsistencies and inner contradictions (cf. 4:82 and the corresponding note 97) despite all the dramatic changes in the Prophet's life during the twenty-three years of the "unfolding" of the divine writ: and this explains, too, the subsequent parenthetic clause (verse 76).