19لَتَركَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍAli UnalYou will most certainly move on from one state to another (congruous with it).1This verse, which, in the Arabic original, consists of only three words, has a very wide range of meanings. As the things by which God swears (the sunset’s afterglow, the night and what it enshrouds by degrees, and the full moon) denote a transition from one state and stage to another, this verse expresses the states or stages that every individual and community, and all of humanity, move through. This is so in both this world and the next one. The world is in such a continuous movement and change. When Islam begins to be conveyed in a community in the footsteps of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, the believers start to rise toward higher and higher stages, and better and better states, though some setbacks may be suffered; and the movement of their opponents becomes downward. This verse implies both. The stages and states traveled though are each a result of the former and a cause of the latter, so there is congruity between them. This same upward or downward movement is also true for individuals. There is congruity or interrelation between the states or stages through which an individual moves.