Allah swears by the heaven and what He has placed in it of radiant stars. Thus, He says,

﴿وَالسَّمَآءِ وَالطَّارِقِ ﴾

(By the heaven, and At-Tariq;) Then He says,

﴿وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ ﴾

(And what will make you to know what At-Tariq is) Then He explains it by His saying,

﴿النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ ﴾

(The star of Ath-Thaqib.) Qatadah and others have said, "The star has been named Tariq because it is only seen at night and it is hidden during the day.'' His view is supported by what has been mentioned in the authentic Hadith that prohibits a man to come to his family Taruq. This means that he comes to them unexpectedly at nighttime. Concerning Allah's statement,

﴿الثَّاقِبُ﴾

(Ath-Thaqib.) Ibn `Abbas said, "The illuminating.'' `Ikrimah said, "It is illuminating and it burns the Shaytan'' Then Allah says,

﴿إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ ﴾

(There is no human being but has a protector over him.) meaning, every soul has a guardian over it from Allah that protects it from the calamities. This is as Allah says,

﴿لَهُ مُعَقِّبَـتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ﴾

(For Him, there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.) (13:11)