The word Jawār is translated as “those that enter.” At its root, it was used for a neighbor, as well as for a farmer digging the ground to plant seeds. The core concept is of entering something and then staying there, like the neighbour who enters your neighbourhood and then resides there, and the farmer who digs the ground and plants seeds for them to remain inside it.50 Next up is the word Kunnas, which was used for a shelter in which cattle and gazelles would take shelter from the sun. So the root meaning is to hide inside something after previously being out in the open. So these are entities that first enter and become visible, and then become hidden.
These two oaths refer to the stars and planets in the sky that become visible during the night, but disappear during the day because of the sun. This is consistent with the context of the surah as well as it just talked about the sky and the stars. Hence, the next two things Allah will mention are the night and the daybreak.
Therefore, No! I swear by the retreating ones
Commentary covering verses 15–16
The word Jawār is translated as “those that enter.” At its root, it was used for a neighbor, as well as for a farmer digging the ground to plant seeds. The core concept is of entering something and then staying there, like the neighbour who enters your neighbourhood and then resides there, and the farmer who digs the ground and plants seeds for them to remain inside it.50 Next up is the word Kunnas, which was used for a shelter in which cattle and gazelles would take shelter from the sun. So the root meaning is to hide inside something after previously being out in the open. So these are entities that first enter and become visible, and then become hidden.
These two oaths refer to the stars and planets in the sky that become visible during the night, but disappear during the day because of the sun. This is consistent with the context of the surah as well as it just talked about the sky and the stars. Hence, the next two things Allah will mention are the night and the daybreak.
50 Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p. 295