Washshamsu tajree limustaqarrin laha thalika taqdeeru alAAazeezi alAAaleem (surah Yasin: 38)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(36:38) The sun is running its course to its appointed place. *33 That is the ordaining of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.

Wash-shamsu tajree limustaqarril lahaa; zaalika taqdeerul `Azeezil Aleem

*33) "Place of rest" may either mean the place where the sun will ultimately come to a halt, or the time when it will come to a halt. The true meaning of this verse can be determined only when man has attained the full and exact knowledge of the realities of the universe. But man's knowledge is such that it has boon changing in every age and what he seems to know today might change tomorrow. The people of the ancient times on the basis of their observations of the sun believed that it was moving round the earth. Then after further research and observation the view became that the sun was stationary and all the planets of the solar system were revolving round it. But this theory also did not last long. The later observations revealed that not only the sun but All the stars also are moving in a particular direction, at speeds of 10 to 100 miles per second. About the sun the modern astronomers hold the view that it is moving at a speed of 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) per second along with its whole family of the planets. (See "Star" and "Sun" in Encyclopedia Britannica).