سُوْرَةُ النَّجْمِ
Surah An-Najm (53) — Ayah 9
فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ ﴿9﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And was at a distance of two bows’ length or (even) nearer.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَكَانَ
fakāna
And was
قَابَ
qāba
(at) a distance
قَوْسَيْنِ
qawsayni
(of) two bow-(lengths)
أَوْ
aw
or
أَدْنَىٰ
adnā
nearer
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
And was at a distance of two bow-lengths or even nearer [5].
[5] ﴿قَابَ﴾ ﴿الارض﴾ means to dig the earth in a round shape, and ﴿قاب﴾ means measure, estimation, the distance from the corner of the bow to the grip. The idiom is ﴿هو علٰي قاب قوسين﴾ meaning "he is extremely close" (Munjid), and Mujahid says that in the phrase ﴿قاب قوسين﴾ there has been an inversion, i.e., the original word is ﴿قابَي قَوْسٍ﴾, meaning the two ends of the bow [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير].
According to the first meaning, this distance is half the length of the bowstring, and according to the second meaning, it is equal to the length of the bowstring. And in the mentioned verse, from ﴿أوْ اَدْنٰي﴾ it is understood that at that time, the distance between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Jibreel was, in any case, less than the two ends of the bow. It was not more.
[5] ﴿قَابَ﴾ ﴿الارض﴾ means to dig the earth in a round shape, and ﴿قاب﴾ means measure, estimation, the distance from the corner of the bow to the grip. The idiom is ﴿هو علٰي قاب قوسين﴾ meaning "he is extremely close" (Munjid), and Mujahid says that in the phrase ﴿قاب قوسين﴾ there has been an inversion, i.e., the original word is ﴿قابَي قَوْسٍ﴾, meaning the two ends of the bow [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير].
According to the first meaning, this distance is half the length of the bowstring, and according to the second meaning, it is equal to the length of the bowstring. And in the mentioned verse, from ﴿أوْ اَدْنٰي﴾ it is understood that at that time, the distance between the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Jibreel was, in any case, less than the two ends of the bow. It was not more.
