While studying the mentions of the sun in the Quran, I noticed that many of them were combined with mentions of the moon. In fact, there are significantly more mentions of the sun and moon together in the same aya than there are mentions of them separately. Not only that, but because in one aya, 41:37, where they are each mentioned twice (you could say it has 2 pairs), the count of mentions is one more than that of the suras containing them. Thus there are 20 mentions of the sun+moon as a pair in 19 suras. This relates to the Metonic Cycle where the solar and lunar cycles intersect or “meet” every 19 years exactly. And because the Quran’s structure and other elements involve the number 19 in significant ways, I found this is something that needs to be investigated further.
The Metonic Metaphor
This Metonic cycle is considered astronomically significant because of its precision as explained below. The Ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism included it with other important astronomical information in the device, including Egyptian and Babylonian calendars, so clearly the ancient Greeks also thought it was significant. The two mentions each of both the sun and moon in the same aya, 41:37, gives us the count of suras containing sun+moon mentions as 19, matching the 19 years of the meeting of the two. That aya is below:
Among His signs are the day and the night, the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them ˹all˺, if you ˹truly˺ worship Him ˹alone˺. (Surat Fussilat 41:37)
Note that the sun and moon are signs, so we can also think of them metaphorically.
Interestingly, we can add the sura reference 41:37 to 19 for an amazing result– 41+37+19 = 97, the last prime number from 1-100, the 25th prime. Which is also the number of Surat Al-Qadr, describing Laylatul Qadr or the Night of Decree when the Quran was sent down. All these things highlight this specific sura, which has an influence on the sura count. Add this to the discovery of a relationship between the moon, the Quranic Initials, and this specific aya (scroll down to the reference itself):
Twelve (12, the number of months/“moons” in a year per 9:36) of these 29 mentions of the moon contain Muqatta’at or Quranic Initials (QIs) or 41%. Interestingly, sura 41 contains the only Quranic aya – 41:37 – where both the sun and moon are each mentioned twice. And even more interestingly, the exact ratio of 12➗29 is .4137.
We might also ask, why did people prostrate to the sun or moon? Because they thought of them as self-powered entities with influence and power over events on earth, and because they are seen high in the “celestial” heavens, they considered them “deities.” In the modern world, “scientism,” when it tries to explain what it cannot explain empirically, says essentially the same thing: things randomly happened to be like this by themselves. In other words, “self-powered.”
Except modern science does not assign “deity” to anything. Those who take science as a religion dismiss all worship of God as Creator/Sustainer as the same as worship of created things such as the sun or moon. They discuss God as a “concept” conceived of – literally “invented” – by people, and consider humanity as having ”advanced beyond” such “primitive” ideas to the level where now they believe the entire universe came into being randomly, with no meaning or purpose. We are expected to be inspired by the fact that the stuff we are made of also was in stars.
And so, is that our purpose in life? Much of this relates to the Christian concept of the divinity of a human, the prophet Isa/ Jesus. If a human can be a god, then we are no different from those who worshiped kings or celestial objects. In the end, there is no power or authority except by the will of Allah/God. But the understanding of Who God Is, in fact, is the central focus of the Quran, His final message.
Shall we take our system of morals and how to live as people without destroying each other on those who insist all creation happened randomly without purpose or accountability? This empowers the “elite” or those with the most wealth and influence to control those they deem “beneath” them. It’s like what happened to prophet Abraham when his people discovered someone had smashed their idols (the original iconoclast).
21:62 They said, “Have you done this to our gods, Abraham?” 21:63 He said, “Rather, this one, the largest of them, did it, so ask them, if they are able to speak.” 21:64 So they turned on one another, saying, “It is you who are the unjust.” 21:65 Then, they reversed themselves, [saying], “You [Abraham] knew that these [idols] do not speak!” 21:66 He said, “Then do you worship what does not help or harm you at all instead of God? 21:67 Shame on you, and shame on what you worship instead of God. Will you not then use reason?”
Now the Metonic cycle measures the moon’s synodic (phase-based) months until it returns to the same place in solar years. So its purpose is defined as a longer lunar cycle measured in solar years. It’s a meeting of two very different cycles in one precise moment. What’s impressive is the stunning precision with which 19 solar years line up with 235 lunations (lunar months).
How many days are in 19 years? The answer will tell us just how precisely these two very different cycles actually meet. The following data is from the site eclipsewitness.com:
“A Solar year is 365.2422 days. So 365.24 × 19 = 6,939.60 days
A Lunar month is 29.5302 days. So 29.53 x 235 = 6,939.68 days
This is usually rounded to 6,940 days.
The difference between 19 solar years and 235 Lunar months is thus only about two hours. In other words, these cosmic patterns align with each other nearly perfectly every 19 solar years.”
So let’s examine a Quranic aya where these numbers line up, Surat Al-An’am 6:94(0). Since the zero is a place holder, we can consider it as if to the right of a decimal.
Today˺ you have come back to Us all alone as We created you the first time—leaving behind everything We have provided you with. We do not see your intercessors with you—those you claimed were Allah’s partners. All your ties have been broken and all your claims have gone astray.” (6:94)
Of course, this refers to Judgment Day. But it could also be a description of the Metonic cycle, where the moon comes back to its starting place after 19 years to the day. Then could the Metonic cycle actually be an example or metaphor for what will happen to us when we return to Allah on Judgment Day alone, with nothing but our deeds, just as we had started out alone with nothing?
The “life” cycle, like the lunar cycle, also has a specified or determined path/orbit: we will all return to our starting place on Judgment Day, just as we are, without intercessors or family ties. And so just as the moon returns to its original starting place after 19 years, so our lives cycle through time until they return to where they started out after the “specified term” is completed. This is then compared to how the moon, in its set path, “meets” the sun (as seen from earth) every 19 years in the Metonic cycle. Obviously, we will meet not the sun but will meet our Maker and Sustainer Who sees the actual condition of our hearts/souls: in reverence to Him, or in rebellion against Him by the sins and violations we committed in our lifetimes without returning to God in repentance.
The connection between our lifetime and the solar-lunar orbit is made clear by the Arabic words used for both (in bold) in the Quran in multiple ayat (more than the examples below).
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن طِينٍ ثُمَّ قَضَىٰٓ أَجَلًاۖ وَأَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى عِندَهُۥۖ ثُمَّ أَنتُمۡ تَمۡتَرُونَ
It is He who created you from clay and then decreed a term [for your death] and a specified time [for your resurrection] [known only] to Him; yet still you are in doubt! (Al-An’am 6:2)
This refers to both our lifetimes and the meeting of the Day of Resurrection described in the aya quoted above as a metaphor for the Metonic cycle. Remember these two – our lifetime and Resurrection – converge at our meeting with Allah in the timeless state, which is where we started. The word قَضَىٰٓ qaḍā means to decree or appoint, as the scene described is literally right after the creation of Adam/humanity, our starting point. Because Allah is eternal, His point of view is timeless, but also encompassing and aware of time. And so his decrees are basically unchangeable – noting He gives us a reprieve in time where we now live.
The aya below emphasizes how unchangeable our “appointed term” of life is. This is a different way to think of it, not as a linear timeline but as an orbit that has a “meeting” at a very specific time, as in the example of the moon with the sun. Except that once we “meet” that “intersection of life and death,” there’s no turning back nor going forward. We’ve gone from time to timelessness:
وَلَوۡ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلۡمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيۡهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمۡ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّىۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَـٔۡخِرُونَ سَاعَةًۖ وَلَا يَسۡتَقۡدِمُونَ
(16:61)
And were God to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave a single creature upon [the earth]. But He grants them reprieve until a term appointed. And when their term comes, they shall not delay it a single hour, nor shall they advance it (An-Nahl 16:61)
Notice the same Arabic words أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّىۖ ajalun musamman used to describe our appointment with Allah on the Day of Resurrection as well as our lifetime, translated “a specified/appointed term,” are also used in reference to the sun/moon connection.
ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى رَفَعَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ بِغَيۡرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوۡنَهَاۖ ثُمَّ ٱسۡتَوَىٰ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِۖ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَۖ كُلٌّ يَجۡرِى لِأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّىۚ يُدَبِّرُ ٱلۡأَمۡرَ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لَعَلَّكُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّكُمۡ تُوقِنُونَ
(13:2)
It is Allah who erected the heavens without pillars that you [can] see; then He established Himself above the Throne and made subject the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. He arranges [each] matter; He details the signs that you may, of the meeting with your Lord, be certain. (Ar-Ra’d 13:2)
أَلَمۡ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُولِجُ ٱلَّيۡلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيۡلِ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ كُلٌّ يَجۡرِىٓ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
(31:29)
Do you not see [know] that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term, and that Allah, of whatever you do, is Aware? (Luqman 31:29)
Here the connection between the sun+moon and their very precisely appointed term is interjected with Allah’s awareness of what we do, with no explanation of why our actions are now brought up in an aya/verse that is only talking about day/night and the sun/moon running their courses. But if we consider the Metonic cycle as a metaphor as described above, it makes perfect sense.
We are living within our orbit like the moon and sun, oblivious of what the purpose of that orbit is, or even knowing its direction, feeling (until old age) almost immortal, continuously alive. But Allah is aware of what we do, indeed aware of literally everything including our thoughts and intentions. And not only of us, but everyone and everything. And our purpose is to worship Allah – which always includes being reverent, kind, generous, charitable, not just rituals, whose purpose is to create the proper attitude to Allah and to those around us, true piety and righteousness. If we return to Him with these qualities mostly intact, when our “cosmic 19 term” is fulfilled, it will be one of bliss, deep total satisfaction. Why 19? It’s a metaphor for that Metonic cycle’s truth. Our term is limited, so don’t waste time in the hamster wheel of “productivity” without taking time for what deeds really count.
The Sun’s Mentions and What They Tell Us
There are 35 mentions of the sun in 34 ayat, in 29 suras. The moon in comparison has 29 mentions in 28 ayat in 25 suras. The last metric on the sun, 29 suras, is the same count as the first metric re the moon, 29 mentions. And 29 is the only prime lunar number for its monthly cycle, and also the number of suras containing Quranic Initials (muqatta’at). The sun and moon are mentioned in the same aya/verse 20 times, which is 57% of the total mentions of the sun and 69% of the total mentions of the moon, so we can see exactly how much more they are mentioned together than separately (which is 15 mentions for the sun alone and 9 such mentions for the moon).
The remaining mentions of the sun alone are 15, which is 43% of the total solar mentions. Interestingly, 15 is also the number of solar mentions in suras that contain Quranic Initials/ muqatta’at, which we previously correlated with the moon. Is there such a connection with the sun? Or is it the connection with the sun plus the moon? This needs further study.
There are 21 solar mentions in the lower hemisphere (60%) and 14 (40%) in the upper hemisphere.
The lower hemisphere represents the earthly realm, where we rely on the sun’s light and heat energy for our daytime activities and our survival. Its warmth and light, by the grace of God, enable us to live on earth, as well as myriad living things which we enjoy and some of which we use for food and other needs. The 60% of the mentions of the sun reflect this focus on earthly (lower hemisphere) effects and benefits of the sun.
The upper hemisphere represents the celestial realm, of which we become aware at night, when the sun itself is no longer visible. Its absence then gives us a time for rest, to recover from the day’s activities. The 40% for the celestial realm relates to the moon, whose luminosity is derived from the sun, clearly stated in the Quran in 10:5, shown below. It is said that two Greek thinkers, Anaxagoras (c. 500–428 BCE) and Empedocles (c. 495–435 BCE) understood that the moon derives its light from the sun, but how well this knowledge was disseminated to the general public is another matter.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ ٱلشَّمۡسَ ضِيَآءً وَٱلۡقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُۥ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعۡلَمُواْ عَدَدَ ٱلسِّنِينَ وَٱلۡحِسَابَۚ مَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ يُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ لِقَوۡمٍ يَعۡلَمُونَ
(10:5)
It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a [derived] light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and calculation. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know. (Surat Yusuf 10:5)
The word used for the sun’s “shining light” is dya’ which means a radiating light like a lamp or other light source. The word used for the moon’s “light” is nūr and refers to the quality of light itself without necessarily being a light source. Arabic being a very contextual language, placing these two very different words to describe the sun and moon clearly shows that the sun’s radiating light gives the moon its light, which is light, but not a “lamp.” The sun is also described in the Quran as siraj which means “burning/illuminating lamp” and is used three times instead of the basic word for sun shams, whereas the moon and its light are never referred to this way.
Also just as the moon’s light is derived from the sun, so too we have no “light” of our own, neither energy nor good deeds nor knowledge, except what is given to us by the grace and will of the Almighty, All-Merciful. We must take the initiative to call upon Him (du’a) and “make the connection” (meaning of salat) to God. And then establish it on a daily basis, to bring His light into our lives, or one could say, our orbits.
Calculating Time
The mention in 10:5 of lunar phases to tell time and hisab, which means “calculation/math,” indicates its importance in learning more complex math, which Allah clearly wants us to learn. Interestingly, it’s said that the oldest physical evidence of ancient humans using math was a bone with 29 notches thought to have been made by women in Africa to calculate their periods. This too is likely connected to the moon, considering the number 29. It’s almost unfathomable to have found this in a 43,000-year-old bone.
The sun is obviously also part of Allah’s cosmic clock, and its light clearly indicates the diurnal (day-night/ hours) time, as indicated in sun dials, for example, yet the Quran specifies lunar phases as a way to calculate time. This is because the lunar cycles are used to calculate months, whereas the sun indicates hours of the day, and years, relating also to seasons.
Calculations of months based on the moon are, from earth, both simpler and more accurate. Solar-calculated months, such as those used in the Gregorian calendar in use in much of the world today, almost always require intercalation such as leap years, because the sun forms a year, not months.
A solar calendar is actually a hybrid of the lunar-inspired idea of a month and the solar year, with 12 months per year, historically also calculated in relationship to the background of stars on the ecliptic, which would usually be the 12 zodiac signs (with minor variations), known to ancient Arabs as well as many others. Most major religions use a lunar calendar to calculate time for their holidays and special occasions.
The solar calendar, however, is important to more agrarian societies, to assess planting and harvest times dependent on seasons. A certain degree of monthly arbitrariness to accommodate the longer solar year is typical of a solar calendar.
Islam’s two major events/holidays mentioned in the Quran (the ‘Eid is not specified in the Quran as a holiday) are Ramadan, an entire month spent in fasting, after which is a celebration/Eid; and the Hajj Pilgrimage, which was for many throughout history a long and arduous journey, after which is the second major Eid, Al-Adha, the sacrifice of selected animals whose meat is distributed to the poor, by which we participate in the final ritual of the Hajj even if we are unable to travel to the Hajj itself. Even today, for many this may be the only meat they eat all year.
Like the Metonic cycles, Islamic events are not just a one-day party time, but longer and more arduous, demanding from us total attention and time. And giving to others is mandated in these “holidays,” if you can call a month of fasting or a long journey a “holiday.” And they also require a little more math and astronomical knowledge, which Arabs historically had: the night sky was their clock.
The Metonic cycle combines two different metrics, two very different celestial objects, a gigantic star of fire and a much smaller rock, and two different timeframes, all converging on one specific odd and indivisible number, the 8the prime, 19. It’s not unlike the odd and inscrutable term already appointed for us, that inevitably will come unexpectedly.
The crescent moons are also mentioned in 2:189 as “for calculation” including for the Hajj, known to be on a specific day of the last month of the Islamic year, thul-Hijja, meaning “of the Hajj.” What the phases do in particular is determine the number of days in a month since the actual synodic lunar cycle is 29.53 days, but one cannot count a half-day since we only experience whole days, so the actual month varies between 29 and 30 days, hence the tradition of crescent moon-sighting.
The most solar mentions in any month/house are in the sixth house (pie section) with six (6) mentions, and the House pair with the most mentions is the 12th-6th House pair, with 9 mentions. But what’s truly noticeable here is that the solar mentions are quite evenly distributed in the chart with the sun mentioned in every House. The 8th House of the throne contains the fewest mentions – only one – in Surat Taha 20, the one surah which mentions the name Al-Rahman on His great throne. This highlights the number 20 as relating to the mentions of both sun+moon in the same aya, noting there are no lunar mentions in the 8th House. It’s as if this House, representing the intersection of life and death, thus also represents the endpoint or point of return to Allah where the “moon” of our lifetime reaches its end, which was also our starting point – symbolized in the Metonic cycle – in a timeless state. It is our return to Allah, passing through Judgment Day, to our final destination.
Looking again at the distribution of mentions where the upper “celestial” hemisphere contains 14 mentions, and the lower “earthly” hemisphere contains 21 mentions out of a total of 35. All three numbers – 14 (2×7), 21 (3×7), and 35 (5×7) – are multiples of 7. If you add them together, the total is an even 70. If we add the mentions, ayat, and sura numbers for the sun together, we get 35+34+29= 98 = 2•7², obviously not just a multiple, but a power of seven (7).
Also both the number of suras with solar mentions and the number of lunar mentions are the same, 29. The number of suras containing Quranic Initials (Muqatta’at) is also 29. Does this suggest an astronomical meaning relating to the Muqatta’at? Possibly, but for now we need further study. Note that in the Quran, sun is always mentioned before moon and night is always mentioned before day, and dark is always mentioned before light (when both are mentioned in the same phrase).
A Closer Look at the Sun+Moon Suras
Because there is overlap within suras that contain multiple ayat, we can’t accurately show the individual aya mentions of the sun and moon within a single chart, but the chart above clearly shows the location of the 19 suras with ayat/verses that contain mentions of both the sun and the moon. Thus we can assess how many of such ayat, associated with the Metonic 19 Cycle, are in suras that contain Quranic initials (QIs).
There are 9 QI suras that contain 10 solar mentions, which two numbers add to 19, again due to the double mentions in 41:37. This parallels the mentions/sura relationship for the sun+moon mentions: 19 suras with 20 mentions. And the QI suras themselves add a synodic lunar pattern to these results, as there are 29 QI suras containing 30 QI ayat, which match the 2 possible synodic lunar calendar days. (By QI suras/ayat, I mean suras or ayat that contain Quranic Initials or muqatta’at.)
And adding 19+20=39. Sura 39 Al-Zumar is unique in that its Sura + aya numbers add to 114, the number of suras in the Quran. But let’s check out a Quranic reference first, 3:9 below:
Our Lord, You will gather all people on the Day of which there is no doubt: God never breaks His promise. (Al-e-Imran 3:9)
This sura speaks of the same subject for which the Metonic cycle is a metaphor: our appointment with Allah in the Hereafter, after our “appointed term” of earthly life is fulfilled. What this aya conveys is the absolute certainty of this meeting or Hour. One could say it’s the central message of the Quran and indeed all genuine Divine messages or books. It’s all about doing whatever it takes to get to that appointment with a clean heart and sincere efforts toward justice and good deeds according to our capabilities. There are no “workarounds,” no cheat sheets.
Thus we have the Metonic number 19 as a very real astronomical miracle, and the synodic lunar number 29, relating to the Quranic Initial numbers which form the two possible synodic calendar numbers 29 and 30. The actual 114-month (6×19) cycle of the Quran, as a calendar, is 9.5 symbolic “years.” And 9.5 x 2 = 19 years. Another striking aspect of the Quran’s structure. But there’s more, even more amazing , astronomical connections, and I’m hoping to finish a post regarding that to show the dumbfounding miracle of which the Metonic cycle is a part.
Quranic Reference Numbers for the Sun and Moon
These are all the Quranic reference numbers regarding this subject for further study and also to confirm what’s written above.
List of all 35 references to the sun with the aya/verse numbers in bold for those 20 that include a reference to the moon: 2:258, 6:78, 6:96, 7:54, 10:5, 12:4, 13:2, 14:33, 16:12, 17:78, 18:17, 18:86, 18:90, 20:130, 21:33, 22:18, 25:45, 25:61, 27:24, 29:61, 31:29, 35:13, 36:38, 36:40, 39:5, 41:37 (2x each sun/moon), 50:39, 55:5, 71:16, 75:9, 76:13, 78:13, 81:1, 91:1
The 15 references to the sun only are: 2:258, 6:78, 17:78, 18:17, 18:86, 18:90, 20:130, 25:61, 27:24, 36:38, 50:39, 76:13, 78:13, 81:1, 91:1
Total 29 mentions of the moon for comparison: 2:189, 3:123, 6:77, 6:96, 7:54, 10:5, 12:4, 13:2, 14:33, 16:12, 21:33, 22:18, 25:61, 29:61, 31:29, 35:13, 36:39, 36:40, 39:5, 41:37 (2x), 54:1, 55:5, 71:16, 74:32, 75:8, 75:9, 84:18, 91:2
The 9 references are for the moon alone: 2:189, 3:123, 6:77, 36:39, 54:1, 74:32, 75:8, 84:18, 91:2
The mentions for sun+moon are: 6:96, 7:54, 10:5, 12:4, 13:2, 14:33, 16:12, 21:33, 22:18, 25:61, 29:61, 31:29, 35:13, 36:40, 39:5, 41:37 (2x), 55:5, 71:16, 75:9 – These are 20 mentions in 19 suras.
114 Chambers 