وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ
Wannajmi izaa hawaa
By the star when it falls,
An oath opens the surah, and the word for the star's falling shares a root with the word for desire two verses later, where the charge against the Prophet is answered. Commentators have read al-najm several ways: the Pleiades, any star at its setting, and the Qur'an itself, since najm can name a portion delivered by stages. Each reading keeps the same picture of something coming down.