Do you know what Al-Taareq is?

A black hole is a star that implodes upon itself puncturing a hole in the fabric of space-time. It is the darkest thing in the universe as not even light can exit its gravity once it enters its event horizon, the point of no return.

The irony is that the darkest object in the universe emits the brightest light in the observable universe by means of a quasar.

At the center of every galaxy is a super massive black hole. quasars typically occur when two galaxies collide in a cosmic collision causing each galaxies stars and planets to fall into the black hole.

The radiation the outcome of this event causes is brighter than the accumulated light of 100 billion stars. The light from a quasar is a piercing light that appears to emit perpendicular to the accretion disk of the black hole (see image below).

Sura 86 of the Quran is entitled Al-Taareq. Rashad translated this word as The Bright Star.

The word Taareq comes from the root: ط ر ق. This root in the Quran is used to mean a way, path, behavior, or conduct.

[46:30] They said, “O our people, we have heard a book that was revealed after Moses, and confirms the previous scriptures. It guides to the truth; to the right (طَرِيقٍ) path.

But the root of the word comes from a different source. It means two rocks smashing into each other. The history behind this root is that in the past Bedouins would knock two stones together outside people’s homes as a form of a knock to let the inhabitants know they were outside. They did this because there wasn’t a hard surface like a door to knock on. That is why all the other meanings of this word revolve around this action e.g. knock, visitor, to beat something etc.

God informs us exactly what Al-Tareeq is in the following verses:

[86:1] By the sky and Al-Taareq. [86:2] Do you know what Al-Taareq is? [86:3] The bright star.

The Arabic for 86:3 is: النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ – al-najmu l-thāqibu

Al-najmu means star which is used throughout the entire Quran, but the root for l-thāqibu only occurs twice in the Quran. Once in 86:3 and the other in 37:10.

[37:10] If any of them ventures to charge the outer limits, he gets struck with a fierce (ثَاقِبٌ) projectile (شِهَابٌ).

In 37:10, Rashad translated ثَاقِبٌ as fierce and شِهَابٌ as projectile. The word شِهَابٌ also means a burins flame (see 27:7)

[27:7] Recall that Moses said to his family, “I see a fire; let me bring you news therefrom, or a torch شِهَابٌ to warm you.”

This makes me understand 37:10, that if the jinns attempted to penetrate the outer limits it is as if they are sniped by a fierce piercing flame projectile.

The word l-thāqibu comes from the root ث ق ب. It is interesting that this root means the following: a hole; to pass through (a hole); intense surge; a piercing light coming through a hole.

From this I believe that Al-Taareq is a quasar, as it is a star smashed together forming a hole in space-time with light piercing through it.