92. SURAH AL-LAIL (THE NIGHT)
NAME: In the first Verse the night is sworn by which gives the Surah its name.
TIME OF REVELATION: It is Meccan and from the subject discussed it appears that it was revealed in the earlier stages.
CENTRAL THEME: It explains that there are two aspects to man’s efforts and this demands that the effects and the consequences of the two aspects should be different and their destinations should also be varied. The topic of this Surah has a deep relation with the topic of the Surah Ash-Shams. In that Surah the topic of purifying the self and the consequences of corrupting it was discussed. In this Surah are mentioned the things which purify the self and the things which corrupt it.
ORDER OF THE VERSES: By presenting a few evidences in Verses Nos. 1 to 4, the case is made out that when the efforts and acts of men are different, then it is necessary that their results and consequences should also be different. In Verses Nos. 5 to 11, by presenting a few characteristics of the good and bad character, it has been explained that good characteristics, pave the way to righteousness and the bad characteristics lead to wickedness. In Verses Nos. 12 to 14 it has been clarified that Allah’s words show the path of guidance and He has shown this path to you. He is the Master of this world and the next, and therefore, He has warned you about what is going to happened in the Hereafter. Verses Nos. 15 to 21 show how the people of bad character will meet with bad consequences and how pleasant will be the end of the people of good character
SURAH AL-LAIL (THE NIGHT)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1. By the night 1 when it enshrouds;2
2. And the day when it becomes bright;3
3. And Him 4 Who has created the male and the female. 5
4. Verily, your efforts are diverse.6
5. So he 7 who gave 8 alms and feared 9 Allah.
6. And believed in the Best thing.10
7. We will make smooth for him the path to ease. 11
8. And he who behaved miserly 12 and was indifferent,13
9. And gave the lie to the Best thing,14
10. We will make smooth for him the path to hardship,15
11. His wealth will not avail him when he will fall in the pit. 16
1. For the explanation of the swearing, note No. 14, Surah Takveer, may please be seen.
2. Points to the fact that the characteristic of the night is darkness. When the night falls, it enshrouds everything with darkness.
3. The characteristic of the day, as opposed to night, is light. When the day dawns, everything shines.
4. Here the swearing is of the Creator, and the oath of the Creator is taken to emphasise the point and to make it forceful.
5. Male and female are created among the animals as well as among the humans. The difference of sexes has its own peculiarity. The characteristic of the man is not possessed by the woman, nor is the characteristic of the woman possessed by the man.
6. To emphasise this reality the said oaths have been taken. It means that this universe is created in such a way that all things are diverse and are different from each other. They possess diverse characteristics, for example the day and the night are different from one another. If the characteristic of one is to enshroud everything with darkness then the characteristic of the other is to throw light on everything. Man and woman are also diverse from the point of view of sex. If to be active is one’s characteristic then to be passive is the characteristic of the other. If the one sex has the characteristic of becoming father, then the other has the characteristic of becoming mother. Same is the case with the efforts of humans. If some adopt the practice of good and righteousness while others practice wickedness and evil. If some one lives as a loyal slave of God then some other one become a transgressor. If some one believes in the True God then the some other one has made a thousand false gods. One strives in the cause of virtue and the other one in cause of evil. One rises as an aggressor and a tyrant, the other as a reformer and an establisher of Justice. One lives luxuriously in the world and the other sincerely performs his duty. In the field of activities this difference in itself has varied characteristics and diverse effects, and such a condition demands that their results should also be different and diverse. When this world is a testing ground and an examination hall, then the necessity of having a House of Requital becomes more prominent. So this claim of the holy Quran that the next world is the abode of Requital where the consequences of righteousness and wickedness will be different, and man will receive reward or punishment according to his efforts and acts, which is exactly in accordance with this reality which stands out so prominently when we contemplate over the manifestations of the universe.
Those who do not accept this great reality merely show their unreasonableness, because according to them everything possesses a characteristic, but the thing which does not possess any characteristic is the moral and immoral behaviour. They think that everything has an effect, but the thing which does not have any effect, is virtue or evil. They admit that every act produces some result, but the acts of obedience or disobedience to God have no result at all, that both the kinds of acts are the same and no result, good or bad, will come out of it. According to them, man may believe or disbelieve in Allah, may accept, or reject His guidance, there is no difference from the viewpoint of consequences. What thing can be more unreasonable than this kind of belief and attitude?
7. Here the difference between the good and the bad acts is explained. In this connection first some of those good qualities are being enumerated which build and adorn a man’s character. Thereafter those bad habits have been mentioned which corrupt a man and ultimately make him a bad character .
8. Means spending for good causes.
9. That is: he should spend his life fearing Allah. The acts which displease Allah should be avoided by him.
10. The best thing (Al-Husna) means that thing towards which Quran is inviting men, i.e. believing in the oneness of Allah and in the life of the Hereafter.
11. That is: it will be easier for him to traverse on the path of righteousness, and by taking that path he will reach that destination where there is nothing but ease, comfort and in short Bliss. Though the path of righteousness is very difficult, it becomes easier for those who believe in God and the Hereafter, life of righteousness, and spend their wealth in the cause of Allah to seek His pleasure. In other words, such an opportunity is granted by Allah to those who courageously determine to follow the path of Truth and fulfill its, basic conditions.
12. ‘Bukhl’ or miserliness means not to spend wealth for the good and righteous acts, and the according to this that man is also a miser who spends lots of money for his own comforts and luxuries but spending for God and for paying the dues of his fellow-men is unpalatable to him.
When the occasion when this thing is being stated is taken into consideration it automatically becomes clear that miserliness and love for wealth are those moral defects which corrupt the self and for attaining selfpurification it is necessary that man should spend his wealth in the cause of Allah.
13. To be indifferent means that man should be totally regardless of and unconnected with God and His guidance, and he may be absolutely careless about the acts which please God and which invite His wrath. The word “Istighna” (indifference) has been used in opposition to the word “Taqwa” (fear of God and righteousness), and therefore, if Taqwa or God-fearing is the name of spending life in a responsible way and righteously then “Istighna” or indifference is to be careless of God and to live an irresponsible life.
14. “The best thing” has been explained in the above Note No.10.
15. That is: It will be easier for him to traverse on the path of evil, which will lead him to the destination where there is nothing but misery and hardships. The path of evil is smooth in this way that the man who takes this path follows his own desires and in t his he achieves material benefits and worldly pleasures too. The man who, in the greed of these worldly benefits, chooses for himself the path of evil, to him Allah shows some leniency in this regard and provides for him opportunities which make the commitment of evil easier and smoother for him. But eventually this ease and smoothness take him to the destination of misery and hardships.
16. To fall in the pit means to fall in the pit of destruction or to be destroyed. It means that the wealth which man hoards and does not spend for good acts will not be of any use to him, but will be a cause of his destruction. If he would have spent this wealth in the cause of God for the good acts then this would have served him as a reserve capital in the Hereafter.
Surely, to guide is Our responsibility. And verily the Hereafter and this world both are in Our power. Therefore, I have warned you of the blazing fire. None shall enter it but the most unfortunate one, Who denied (the Truth) and turned away. And he who is the most God-fearing will be kept far from it, (Al-Quran)
12. Surely, to guide is Our responsibility.17
13. And verily the Hereafter and this world both are in Our power.18
14. Therefore, I have warned you of the blazing fire.
15. None shall enter it but the most unfortunate one,19
16. Who denied (the Truth) and turned away.
17. And he who is the most God-fearing will be kept far from it,20
18. Who gives his wealth for the sake of self-purification,21
19. And for him there is no favour which he does to, anyone for which a reward is expected in return, 22
20. But only seeking the pleasure of his Lord, the Most High,23
21. And indeed he will become wellpleased. 24
17. So far as the task of showing right path to man is concerned, Allah has surely taken this responsibility, and this responsibility He has fulfilled by sending down His prophets and holy Book. As regards taking the right path, this is the entire responsibility of man himself. If he takes the right path, he will be successful, and if he does not, he will be a dismal failure.
18. We are the master of both, this and the next world. The profit and loss in both these worlds is within our power and control. So the man who does not follow the right path in his greed for the worldly benefits should understand that in the world he would get only those benefits and profits which Allah wants him to get inspite of his transgression. Beyond this he will not be able to achieve anything. As regards their position in the next world, then for them there is nothing but failure and deprivation.
19. It does not means that the unfortunate person of the lesser degree will not go to Hell, but it means that at the time of revelation of this Surah the people of two different characters only were in view —- one those who were rejecting the Prophet and were turning away from the guidance which he had brought, and the other those who were confirming the truth of the Prophet and were, after accepting his guidance, spending their wealth in the cause of Allah—- and out of these two kinds of people the one who rejected the Prophet will be thrown into the blazing fire of Hell, and not the other kind of people who were confirming his Truth. The rejecters have been called the most unfortunate (Ashqa) because when the Prophet directly conveyed to them the message of Allah. thus establishing the communication of Allah’s massage to them beyond any doubt, their rejection in such circumstances makes them the most unfortunate people.
To fix the meaning of the Quranic verses it is necessary to take into consideration the occasion, the time and the circumstances in which the verses were revealed. Besides, it would also not be proper to give such a meaning to the verse as would not be harmonious with the other statements or Quran.
20. Here also the idea is not to say that only very pious and righteous people would be saved from the fire or Hell, and the common righteous people will not be saved, but it means that from the two distinct kinds of people which had become prominent and these had become prominent at the time of the revelation of the surah and during the presence of the Prophet— only the second kind of people who had given proof of their being very righteous and Godfearing will be saved from the blazing fire of Hell. As regards the most unfortunate persons, they will inevitably be thrown into the Hell, as stated in the above lines. It may be noted that those who in the beginning itself had responded to the call of the Prophet and fearing Allah were purifying their selves, had given the proof of their great courage, and therefore, their ranking is very high and on account of their being on a very high level of “taqwa” (righteousness) they are all most righteous and most virtuous, and therefore most fortunate.
21. It shows that spending wealth in the cause of Allah is a great means of selfpurification, for it cuts at the roots of love for the wealth and the love for the world, and the feeling of love for God and the Hereafter is generated.
22. That is: Whatever he gives to others, he does not give with a view to getting some return for it. According to him, to help somebody is not to put him under his obligation that would result in some kind of compensation for him, but he helps with sincerity and selflessly.
23.Only that expenditure is acceptable to Allah which is incurred with a view to seeking His pleasure, and from such an expenditure on self-purification is possible as against this, an expenditure that is incurred with a view to putting some one under one’s obligation or to achieve fame, then such an expenditure dose not help one get Allah’s pleasure nor the desired self-purification.
24. That is: The man who has such character, will be blessed by his Lord in such way that he will be happy and content. This verse has only two words, but in it is hidden a world of glad tidings for the bearers of these qualities who will be so blessed by Allah.