وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلطَّارِقُ
The pattern وما أدراك was treated in detail in the section on al-Humaza and applied twice in al-Qāriʿa. The rule recorded there was this:
| Pattern | What happens |
|---|---|
| وما أدراك (perfect, māḍī) | An explanation follows; information is given |
| وما يدريك (imperfect, muḍāriʿ) | No explanation follows; no information is given |
In Sūrat al-Ṭāriq the pattern has come in the perfect, and the rule holds: there is an explanation in the very next verse — al-najmu'l-thāqib.
This is worth recording as one of the examples that show how sound the rule is. Twice in al-Qāriʿa, once in al-Qadr, once here; in all four the perfect came, and in all four the explanation followed.
To say a word, then to ask "do you know what this is?", and then to give the answer — this can look like a needless detour. It could have been said directly: "By the sky and by the piercing star."
First, the word is heard twice. Ṭāriq occurs in the first verse and occurs again in the second. And note: no pronoun is used at the second occurrence — where "what is it?" (mā huwa) could have been said, the whole word is repeated. In Arabic, repeating the noun where a pronoun would have served conveys tafkhīm (magnification). We saw this technique in the second verse of al-Ikhlāṣ (Allāhu'l-Ṣamad) and in the first three verses of al-Qāriʿa as well.
Second, a gap opens in between. The moment the question is asked, the hearer's mind begins to search for the answer. When the answer comes one verse later, the hearer is no longer passive; he is waiting inside the question. This is the basic function of the pattern in the Qurʾān, and in the section on al-Humaza it was recorded thus: before it gives any information, this pattern announces that information will not be enough.
Iltifāt. Adrā-ka — "you". While the sūra is speaking in the third person, in the language of the oath, it turns all at once to the second person singular. This device — iltifāt (a shift in the direction of address) — was treated in the sections on al-Humaza and al-Qāriʿa; its function here is the same: the telling halts, the hearer is drawn onto the stage, and then the telling goes on.