وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ
Wannajmi izaa hawaa
تارے کی قسم جب غائب ہونے لگے
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.