سورة المعارج

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): الْمَشَارِقُ [the Easts] are indeed the Prophets (peace be upon them), and الْمَغَارِبُ [the Wests] are indeed the awsiya (successors) (peace be upon them) and the appointed heirs.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Abi Hammad reports in a marfu' hadith from Imam Ali (peace be upon him) that concerning this verse: بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَ الْمَغَارِبِ [by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests] he said: "[The sun] has three hundred and sixty easts and three hundred and sixty wests, and the day on which it rises at a point does not return to that point except in the following year, and the day on which it sets at a point does not return to that point except in the following year."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Asbagh ibn Nubata said: Imam Ali (peace be upon him) addressed us from the pulpit of Kufa ... Ibn al-Kawwa' stood up and said: "O Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) ... I have heard that Allah the Exalted has said: بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَ الْمَغَارِبِ [by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests] ..." [Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said:] "... And as for the verse: بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَ الْمَغَارِبِ, it has three hundred and sixty constellations; each day it is present in one constellation and absent from another, and it returns to the same constellation on the same day only in the following year."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The sun has each day a rising point from which it rises, and a setting point in which it sets, other than its rising point of yesterday and other than its setting point of yesterday.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The meaning of فَلَا أُقْسِمُ [But nay! I swear] is a solemn oath; بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَ الْمَغَارِبِ [by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests] refers to the risings of winter and the risings of summer, and the settings of winter and the settings of summer. This sentence is an oath, and its answer is this statement: إِنَّا لَقَادِرُونَ [that We are certainly able].