40 Preface لَا الشَّمسُ يَنبَغي لَها أَن تُدرِكَ القَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيلُ سابِقُ النَّهارِ ۚ وَكُلٌّ في فَلَكٍ يَسبَحونَYusuf AliIt is not permitted to the Sun to catch up1 the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along2 in (its own) orbit (according to Law).Though the sun and the moon both traverse the belt of the Zodiac, and their motions are different, they never catch up each other. When the sun and the moon are on the same side and on a line with the earth there is a solar eclipse, and when on opposite sides in a line, there is a lunar eclipse, but there is no clash. Their Laws are fixed by God, and form the subject of study in astronomy. Similarly Night and Day follow each other, but being opposites cannot coincide, a fit emblem of the opposition of Good and Evil, Truth and Falsehood: see also n. 3982 above.Cf. 21:33, and n. 2695. How beautifully the rounded courses of the planets and heavenly bodies are described, “swimming” through space, with perfecdy smooth motion! As Shakespeare expresses it, each “in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims!”