The moon in Islam is a sign of Allah and a timekeeper, and Qur'an 36:39 says Allah determined phases for it "until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk." The old date stalk, al-'urjun al-qadim, is the dried, curved stem that Ibn Abbas explained as joining the bunch of dates to the palm. This post explains the image and how to watch the phases.
In short
Qur'an 36:39 describes the moon passing through set stations until it looks like an old, dried date stalk.
Ibn Abbas explained the 'urjun as the stem that joins a bunch of dates to the palm; dried, it bends into a thin, pale arc.
The Qur'an says the moon's phases exist so people can count time, years and the seasons of worship such as Hajj.
The moon keeps its schedule exactly, which is part of the sign.
Step outside after Maghrib on a clear night and look for the moon. Some nights it is a thin curve low in the west.
Some nights it is a bright half. Once a month it is full and rises as the sun sets.
We tend to notice it only when it is full or when the new crescent is announced. The Qur'an asks us to notice the whole journey.
What does Qur'an 36:39 mean?
The verse says the moon moves through stages that Allah measured out for it, until it shrinks back to a thin curve:
And the moon - We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk.
The word translated "phases" is manazil, stations or stopping places. The moon does not wander through its month. It reaches each station on schedule, grows to full, and then thins night by night.
What is the "old date stalk"?
The old date stalk, al-'urjun al-qadim, is the stem that holds a bunch of dates to the palm, left to dry. Ibn Kathir records that Ibn Abbas explained it as "the original stem (which connects the bunch of dates to the tree)" (Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 36:37-40).
Cut and dried, the stalk bends into a thin, curved, yellowish arc. That is the shape of the old moon near the end of its month, a faint sliver low in the sky before dawn.
The comparison came from the date groves the first listeners lived among. It can also be read as a picture of ageing: something full and green that dries and curves with time.
Why did Allah give the moon phases?
The Qur'an says the phases are there so people can measure time. In Surah Yunus:
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 account [of time]. Allāh has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know.
And when people asked the Prophet ﷺ about the crescent moons, the answer was revealed:
They ask you, [O Muḥammad], about the crescent moons. Say, 'They are measurements of time for the people and for ḥajj [pilgrimage].'
That is why the Islamic months follow the moon. Each month runs 29 or 30 days, and Ramadan, Hajj and the two Eids arrive by the crescent.
What does the next verse add?
The next verse widens the picture to the sun, the night and the day, each kept in its own course:
It is not allowable [i.e., possible] for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but each, in an orbit, is swimming.
The moon's phases are one part of a larger order. The sun and the moon keep their separate paths, and night and day follow each other without collision. For more signs from this series, see the mountains as pegs and the shadow in the Qur'an.
What can the moon's phases teach us?
The moon changes slowly and on schedule, which is easy to miss when you only look on the nights that matter to a calendar. Much of life changes the same way. A child grows a little each night, a parent slows, and a habit you started months ago fills in without announcing itself.
Watching the moon through a whole month is a way of practising attention to slow change, and of remembering that every stage, the full moon and the old stalk alike, is a station Allah measured out.
How to watch the moon's phases
Go outside after Maghrib tonight and find the moon. If you cannot see it, it may be near new moon or rising later in the night.
Notice its shape and where it sits in the sky.
Say SubhanAllah and stay with the sight for a minute.
Look again on the following nights and notice how the shape and the time it appears have changed.
Near the end of the month, look low in the east before Fajr for the thin, curved old moon, the shape the verse compares to the old date stalk.
The moon has kept these stations every month of your life. Looking up for one month is a simple way to read a verse in the sky.
Frequently asked questions
What does "like the old date stalk" mean in the Quran?
It describes the thin, curved shape of the moon at the end of its month. Ibn Abbas explained al-'urjun al-qadim as the dried stem that joins a bunch of dates to the palm (Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 36:37-40).
Which verse in the Quran talks about the phases of the moon?
Qur'an 36:39 mentions the moon's phases and the old date stalk. Qur'an 10:5 says the phases let people count years and time, and Qur'an 2:189 calls the crescents measurements of time and for Hajj.
Why does the Islamic calendar follow the moon?
The Qur'an describes the crescents as measurements of time for people and for Hajj (Qur'an 2:189). Islamic months begin with the new crescent and last 29 or 30 days.
What is the purpose of the moon in Islam?
The Qur'an presents the moon as a light and a timekeeper, with phases set so people know the number of years and the reckoning of time (Qur'an 10:5), and as one of Allah's signs.
Keep reading
Sources
Qur'an 36:39, 36:40, 10:5, 2:189, Saheeh International