092- AL-LAYL
THE NIGHT
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# By the night as it enshrouds; # by the day as it discloses; # by Him Who created the male and the female, # truly your endeavors are diverse. # As for one who gives and is reverent, # and attests to what is most beautiful, # We shall ease his way unto ease. # And as for one who is miserly and deems himself beyond need, # and denies what is most beautiful, # We shall ease his way unto hardship; # and his wealth shall not avail him when he perishes. # Truly Ours it is to give guidance, # and truly unto Us belong the Hereafter and this world. # Thus have I warned you of a raging Fire, # which none shall enter, save the most wretched, # who denies and turns away. # And the most reverent shall be removed from it, # who gives his wealth to purify, # not recompensing any for a favor thereby; # save for seeking the Face of his Lord, the Most High, # and surely he shall be content.
COMMENTARY
# By the night as it enshrouds;
- Cf. 91:2. The omitted direct object can be seen as an allusion to the world, the earth, the day (cf. 13:3), or all of creation.
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# by the day as it discloses;
2. Cf. 91:3. This is one of several passages where an oath is taken by the alternation of night and day (see also 74:32–34; 81:17–18; 84:16–17; 89:1–4; 91:1–4; 93:1–2).
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# by Him Who created the male and the female,
3 Another reading is, “By the creation of the male and female”. As with 91:5–7, some maintain this second reading is more appropriate, because God would not swear upon Himself. The creation of human beings in pairs is also presented as containing symbolic meaning in 78:8, and 53:45 states, He creates the two (zawjayn)—male and female, which are said to be mates (azwāj) created from a single soul (4:1; 7:189; 39:6). The reference to the male and female can be seen as an allusion to the outward polarity of created forms, while the remainder of the sūrah refers to the inner spiritual polarity between those who reverence the truth and those who deny it. In this context, it can also be read as an indication that the final ends of both males and females are not determined by their gender, but by the degree of their reverence, as in 49:13: O mankind! Truly We created you from a male and a female, and We made you peoples and tribes that you may come to know one another. Surely the most noble of you before God are the most reverent of you
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# truly your endeavors are diverse.
4 In this context “endeavoring” (saʿy) can be taken as a synonym for doing or acting (ʿamal), implying that people work for either redemption or perdition and that there is no in-between.
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# As for one who gives and is reverent,
5–10 ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib related that the Prophet said, “There is no one among you except that his place is registered in either the Garden or the Fire!” Someone asked, “O Messenger of God, then what of works?” He said, “Perform works; everyone is eased unto that for which he was created,” and then he recited vv. 5–10. Citing the last part of this ḥadīth, al-Zamakhsharī says that the meaning is, “We will make it amiable to him and grant him success until obedience [to God] becomes the easiest and simplest of things for him, as in His saying, Whomsoever God wishes to guide, He expands his breast for submission [6:125].”
5 Gives is understood by most to mean giving in charity, but can also indicate giving God His proper due.
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# and attests to what is most beautiful,
6 What is most beautiful (al-ḥusnā), here and in v. 9, is taken by most to mean “There is no god but God” or simply belief in God, so that either of these is what is being attested to or denied; others see it as a reference to Paradise, which is referred to as the most beautiful reward in 3:148 and 3:195. But it can also be seen as a reference to God Himself, for, as several verses attest, Unto Him belong the Most Beautiful Names (17:110; 20:8; 59:24; cf. 7:180).
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# We shall ease his way unto ease.
7 Cf. 87:8. As 2:185 states, God desires ease for you, and He does not desire hardship for you. Nonetheless, ease in one’s affairs derives from reverence, as in 65:4: And whosoever reverences God, He will appoint ease for his af air.
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# And as for one who is miserly and deems himself beyond need,
8 Cf. 96:6–7. Beyond need literally means “self-sufficient,” but beyond need better conveys the negative connotation of viewing oneself as “self-sufficient” vis-à-vis God. Being miserly toward those below one’s station and having the illusion of self-sufficiency in relation to what is above is an inversion of the proper balance between Heaven and earth or God and human beings, in which people must be obedient to God and generous toward others.
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# and denies what is most beautiful,
9 What is most beautiful here can mean the reward of the Garden, the reality of the Garden itself, the Reality of God, or all three; see also 92:6c.
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# We shall ease his way unto hardship;
10 Just as there is reciprocity when turning to God in repentance, so too there is reciprocity when turning away from God in disobedience. Hardship is glossed by many with “evil”. This can be taken to imply that when people disbelieve and commit evil deeds, God opens the way for them to commit further evil and it becomes increasingly difficult to turn back, as implied by the diverse nature of good and evil deeds alluded to in v. 4.
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# and his wealth shall not avail him when he perishes.
11 Alternately, “What will his wealth avail him when he perishes?” Perishes can be taken to mean when he dies or when he enters the Fire.
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# Truly Ours it is to give guidance,
12 Some understand this verse to mean, “We will explain what is lawful and what is prohibited”. Others take it to indicate that one who travels the path of guidance will reach God in the Hereafter. It can also be likened to other verses that explain that it is God’s place to guide and no one else’s, as in 16:9: And it is for God to show the way.
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# and truly unto Us belong the Hereafter and this world.
13 Cf. 53:25: Yet unto God belong the Hereafter and this world. Some commentators see this verse as a reference to the reward of the Hereafter and this world, as in 4:134: Whosoever desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter, in which case, one could also see it as an allusion to the punishment of this world and the Hereafter, as in 79:25: So God seized him with a punishment exemplary in the Hereafter and in this world. Others see this verse as an indication that everything is God’s and He does with it as He wills.
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# Thus have I warned you of a raging Fire,
14 Elsewhere Hell is described as a crushing Fire (104:4–5).
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# which none shall enter, save the most wretched,
15–21 Several commentators say that the whole of this sūrah was revealed in reference to a Muslim of Madinah who had a palm tree, a branch of which was bent toward the house of a poor man who had a large family. Sometimes the owner of the palm tree would collect the fruit and, if by chance some dates fell in the poor man’s yard and his children picked them up, the owner would come and snatch them away from their hands and even from their mouths. The poor man complained to the Prophet, who then asked the owner of the tree if he would give him the tree in question in return for a palm tree in Paradise. The man declined, pleading that the dates of that tree, among all his numerous trees, were so delicate that he could not give up the tree. Another man heard what the Prophet had promised the owner and said, “O Messenger of God! Would you promise the same to me, were I to obtain the palm tree from the owner and give it to you?” The Prophet said, “Yes.” Whereupon he went to the owner of the palm tree and asked whether he wanted to sell it. The owner demanded forty palm trees, a sum he thought no one would pay. Though the buyer was astonished and told him that it was exorbitant, after a short pause he agreed to give him forty palm trees. Afterwards, he presented the palm tree to the Prophet, who then gave it to the poor man and his children. Vv. 15–16 refer to the man who refused to exchange his date palm for the promise of a tree in Paradise, while vv. 18–21 refer to the man who purchased the tree and gave it as charity. If, however, this is an early Makkan sūrah, as some maintain, then the story would most likely not refer to such an incident, but would be a more general condemnation of those who did not accept Muhammad as a prophet.
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#who denies and turns away.
# And the most reverent shall be removed from it,
# who gives his wealth to purify,
18 The implication is that one purifies both oneself and one’s wealth when one gives charity in the Name of God. To purify translates tazakkā, which is etymologically related to the Quranic word for alms, zakāh. Some believe that the whole of this sūrah is related to the story of the date palm mentioned in the previous comment, but others say that vv. 18–21 were revealed about the first Caliph, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who used to buy weak slaves and then free them. When his father asked him, “Why do you not buy slaves who can defend you?” Abū Bakr responded, “It is not my defense that I seek,” and so vv. 17–21 were revealed extolling his generosity.
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# not recompensing any for a favor thereby;
# save for seeking the Face of his Lord, the Most High,
# and surely he shall be content.
19–21 One account of the revelation of these verses states that, upon embracing Islam, Bilāl, who was a slave of one ʿAbd Allāh ibn Judan, proceeded to the idols of the Kaʿbah and defecated on them. The idolaters complained to his master about what Bilāl had done and so he gave them Bilāl along with one hundred camels to be sacrificed to their gods. The idolaters took Bilāl and tortured him in the scorching desert. All he said while being tortured was “One! One!” as a testimony to the Oneness of God. The Prophet came upon this and said to him, “The One will save you!” He then informed Abū Bakr, saying, “Bilāl is being tortured for the sake of God!” Abū Bakr took with him a pound of gold and bought Bilāl. The idolaters said, “Abū Bakr did what he did only because he is obliged to Bilāl for a favor,” and so God revealed vv. 19–21 (W). Bilāl later became the first to lead the call to prayer (ʿadhān) and one of the Prophet’s personal treasurers.
19 This verse literally reads, “no one having with him any favor to be repaid.” In both translations the implication is that one is neither recompensing others for favors done in the past, nor expecting recompense from anyone in the future for what one does at present, but spending in charity only out of desire to do God’s Will.
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