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Ayah
Word by Word
وَبِٱلۡأَسۡحَارِ
And in the hours before dawn
هُمۡ
they
يَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ
would ask forgiveness
وَبِٱلۡأَسۡحَارِ
And in the hours before dawn
هُمۡ
they
يَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ
would ask forgiveness
Translation
And in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness;
Tafsir
and at dawns they used to seek forgiveness: they used say, 'Our Lord! Forgive us',
Tafsir of Surah Az-Zariyat
Affirming the News of the Resurrection
The Commander of the faithful, Ali bin Abi Talib may Allah be pleased with him, ascended the Minbar in Kufah and declared,
Any Ayah in the Book of Allah the Exalted and any Sunnah from Allah's Messenger you ask me about today, I will explain them.
Ibn Al-Kawwa stood up and said, O Leader of the faithful! What is the meaning of Allah's statement,
وَالذَّارِيَاتِ ذَرۡوًا
By the scattering Dhariyat,
and Ali said, The wind.
The man asked,
فَالۡحَامِلَاتِ وِقۡرًا
And the laden Hamilat,
Ali said, The clouds.
The man again asked,
فَالۡجَارِيَاتِ يُسۡرًا
And the steady Jariyat,
Ali said, The ships.
The man asked,
فَالۡمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمۡرًا
And the distributors of command,
Ali said, it refers to The angels.
Some scholars said that Al-Jariyat Yusra refers to the stars that float in their orbits with ease. This would mean that the things mentioned were ascendant in their order, beginning with the lower, then mentioning the higher one after that, etc. The winds bring the clouds, the stars are above them and the angels who distribute by Allah's order are above that, and they descend with Allah's legislative orders and the decrees He determines.
These Ayat contain a vow from Allah that Resurrection shall come to pass.
Allah's statement,
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَصَادِقٌ
Verily, that which you are promised is surely true,
it is a truthful promise
وَإِنَّ الدِّينَ
And verily, Ad-Din, (the Recompense),
لَوَاقِعٌ
will occur, (it will surely come to pass).
Then Allah the Exalted said,
وَالسَّمَاء ذَاتِ الۡحُبُكِ
By the heaven full of Hubuk,
Ibn Abbas said;
Full of beauty, grace, magnificence and perfection.
Mujahid, Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Malik, Abu Salih, As-Suddi, Qatadah, Atiyah Al-`Awfi, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and others said similarly.
Ad-Dahhak, Al-Minhal bin `Amr and others said,
The meandering of the water, sand and plants when the wind passes over them; carving paths out of them, that is the Hubuk.
All of these sayings return to the same meaning, that of beauty and complexity. The sky is high above us, clear yet thick, firmly structured, spacious and graceful, beautified with stars such as the sun and orbiting planets such as the moon and the planets of the solar system.
The Differing Claims of the Idolators
Allah the Exalted said,
إِنَّكُمۡ لَفِي قَوۡلٍ مُّخۡتَلِفٍ
Certainly, you have different ideas.
Allah says, `you disbelievers who deny the Messengers have different and confused opinions that do not connect or conform to each other.'
Qatadah commented on the Ayah,
You have different ideas about the Qur'an. Some of you agree that it is true while some others deny this fact.
Allah said,
يُوۡفَكُ عَنۡهُ مَنۡ أُفِكَ
Turned aside therefrom is he who is turned aside.
Allah says, these confused and different opinions only fool those who are inwardly misguided. Surely, such falsehood is accepted, embraced and it becomes the source of confusion only for those who are misguided and originally liars, the fools who have no sound comprehension, as Allah said,
فَإِنَّكُمۡ وَمَا تَعۡبُدُونَ
مَأ أَنتُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ بِفَـتِنِينَ
إِلاَّ مَنۡ هُوَ صَالِ الۡجَحِيمِ
So, verily you and those whom you worship cannot lead astray, except those who are predetermined to burn in Hell! (37:161-163)
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and As-Suddi said:
يُوۡفَكُ عَنۡهُ مَنۡ أُفِكَ
(Turned aside therefrom is he who is turned aside).
He who is misguided is led astray from it.
Allah said;
قُتِلَ الۡخَرَّاصُونَ
Cursed be Al-Kharrasun,
Mujahid said; The liars.
This is similar to what is mentioned in Surah `Abasa:
قُتِلَ الاِنسَـنُ مَأ أَكۡفَرَهُ
Be cursed man! How ungrateful he is! (80:17)
Al-Kharrasun are those who claim that they will never be brought back to life, doubting the coming of Resurrection.
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn Abbas;
Cursed be the doubters.
Mu`adh said similarly, may Allah be pleased with him. During one of his speeches he said,
Destroyed be the doubters.
Qatadah said,
Al-Kharrasun are the people of doubt and suspicion.
Allah said;
الَّذِينَ هُمۡ فِي غَمۡرَةٍ سَاهُونَ
Who are under a cover of Sahun,
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and others said;
In disbelief and doubt, they are heedless and playful.
Allah said,
يَسۡأَلُونَ أَيَّانَ يَوۡمُ الدِّينِ
They ask:When will be the Day of Ad-Din?
They utter this statement in denial, stubbornness, doubt and suspicion.
Allah the Exalted replied,
يَوۡمَ هُمۡ عَلَى النَّارِ يُفۡتَنُونَ
(It will be) a Day when they will be Yuftanun in the Fire!
Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan and several others said,
Yuftanun means punished.
Mujahid said:
Just as gold is forged in the fire.
A group of others also including Mujahid, Ikrimah, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Zayd bin Aslam, and Sufyan Ath-Thawri said,
They will be burnt.
ذُوقُوا فِتۡنَتَكُمۡ
Taste you your trial!
Mujahid said, Your burning
while others said, Your punishment.
هَذَا الَّذِي كُنتُم بِهِ تَسۡتَعۡجِلُونَ
This is what you used to ask to be hastened!
This will be said admonishing, chastising, humiliating and belittling them. Allah knows best.
Qualities of Those Who have Taqwa and Their Reward
Allah the Exalted says,
إِنَّ الۡمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ
Verily, those who have Taqwa will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs,
Allah the Exalted informs about those who have Taqwa, that on the Day of their Return they will be amidst gardens and springs.
To the contrary the miserable ones will be amidst torment, punishment, fire and chains.
Allah said
اخِذِينَ مَا اتَاهُمۡ رَبُّهُمۡ
Taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them.
His statement;
اخِذِينَ
(Taking) describes the state of the people of Taqwa in the midst of gardens and springs. They will receive what their Lord gives them, meaning, delight, happiness and favors.
Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,
إِنَّهُمۡ كَانُوا قَبۡلَ ذَلِكَ
Verily, they were before that, (in the life of the world),
مُحۡسِنِينَ
good doers,
As He said:
كُلُواۡ وَاشۡرَبُواۡ هَنِييَاً بِمَأ أَسۡلَفۡتُمۡ فِى الاٌّيَّامِ الۡخَالِيَةِ
Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past! (69:24)
Allah the Exalted described the good acts that they performed,
كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيۡلِ مَا يَهۡجَعُونَ
They used to sleep but little at night.
The scholars of Tafsir have two opinions about this:
The First Opinion
The first is that, they used to spend a little part of every night awake.
Ibn Abbas said,
Every night, they would worship Allah, even during a little part of the night.
Qatadah narrated that Mutarrif bin Abdullah said,
Hardly a night would pass by them that they did not pray to Allah the Exalted and Most Honored, either in the beginning, or the middle of it.
Mujahid said,
Only a few nights, if any, would they sleep through the night until the morning without praying Tahajjud.
Qatadah said similarly.
Anas bin Malik and Abu Al-Aliyah said,
They used to pray between Al-Maghrib and Al-`Isha'.
The Second Opinion
They used to spend a little part of the night in sleep. This was preferred by Ibn Jarir.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:
كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيۡلِ مَا يَهۡجَعُونَ
(They used to sleep but little by night),
They performed voluntary night prayer and would not sleep during the night except a little. They were active and would continue until they were seeking forgiveness right before dawn.
Abdullah bin Salam said,
When the Messenger of Allah arrived at Al-Madinah, people quickly gathered around him and I was among them. When I ﷺ his face, I knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first statement I heard from him was,
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ
أَطۡعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ
وَصِلُوا الاَۡرۡحَامَ
وَأَفۡشُوا السَّلَأمَ
وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيۡلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ
تَدۡخُلُوا الۡجَنَّةَ بِسَلَم
O people!
Feed with food,
keep relations to kith and kin,
spread the Salam,
pray at night while people are asleep,
and you will enter Paradise in peace.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah bin Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said,
إِنَّ فِي الۡجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا يُرَى ظَاهِرُهَا مِنۡ بَاطِنِهَا وَبَاطِنُهَا مِنۡ ظَاهِرِهَا
Verily, there are lofty rooms in Paradise in which their outside can be seen from inside and their inside from the outside.
Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said, Who are they for, O Allah's Messenger He said,
لِمَنۡ
أَلَانَ الۡكَلَمَ
وَأَطۡعَمَ الطَّعَامَ
وَبَاتَ للهِ قَايِمًا وَالنَّاسُ نِيَام
For those
who use soft speech,
feed food and
spend the night in voluntary prayer while people are asleep.
Allah said:
وَبِالاَۡسۡحَارِ هُمۡ يَسۡتَغۡفِرُونَ
And in the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness.
Mujahid and several others said:
They were performing Salah.
Others said that they would stand in prayer during the night and delayed asking Allah for forgiveness until the latter hours before dawn.
As Allah, the Exalted the Blessed, said;
وَالۡمُسۡتَغۡفِرِينَ بِالاٌّسۡحَارِ
And those who seek forgiveness during the last hours of the night. (3:17)
This is because it is better if asking for forgiveness is done while praying.
It is confirmed in the Sahih collections as well as others, from several Companions, that the Messenger of Allah said,
إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى يَنۡزِلُ كُلَّ لَيۡلَةٍ إِلَى سَمَاءِ الدُّنۡيَا حِينَ يَبۡقَى ثُلُثُ اللَّيۡلِ الاَۡخِيرُ فَيَقُولُ
هَلۡ مِنۡ تَايِبٍ فَأَتُوبَ عَلَيۡهِ
هَلۡ مِنۡ مُسۡتَغۡفِرٍ فَأَغۡفِرَ لَهُ
هَلۡ مِنۡ سَايِلٍ فَيُعۡطَى سُوۡلَهُ
حَتۡى يَطۡلُعَ الۡفَجۡر
Allah, the Most High, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says,
Is there anyone who is repenting so that I may accept his repentance?
Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?
Is there anyone asking of Me, so that I may grant him his request?
until Fajr begins.
Many of the scholars of Tafsir said that when the Prophet Ya`qub said to his sons:
سَوۡفَ أَسۡتَغۡفِرُ لَكُمۡ رَبِّيَ
I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you (12:98), he delayed doing so until the hours before dawn.
Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,
وَفِي أَمۡوَالِهِمۡ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّايِلِ وَالۡمَحۡرُومِ
And in their wealth there was the right of the Sa'il and the Mahrum.
After Allah mentioned their quality of performing prayer, He then mentioned their quality of spending in charity and acts of compassion and kindness,
وَفِي أَمۡوَالِهِمۡ حَقٌّ
(And in their wealth there was the right), a designated part which they dedicated to the Sa'il and Mahrum.
The Sa'il is the poor who begs others, and he has a due right.
As for the Mahrum, Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said,
He is the poor person who does not receive a stipend.
Meaning he does not receive a stipend from the Muslim treasury, nor does he have a means of income, nor a profession.
The Mother of the faithful, A'ishah may Allah be pleased with her, said about the Mahrum,
He is the displaced, the one who does not have a profession to easily earn an income from.
Qatadah and Az-Zuhri said:
The Mahrum is the one who does not ask the people for anything.
Az-Zuhri added that the Messenger of Allah said,
لَيۡسَ الۡمِسۡكِينُ بِالطَّوَّافِ الَّذِي تَرُدُّهُ اللُّقۡمَةُ وَاللُّقۡمَتَانِ وَالتَّمۡرَةُ وَالتَّمۡرَتَانِ وَلكِنِ الۡمِسۡكِينُ الَّذِي لَا يَجِدُ غِنًى يُغۡنِيهِ وَلَا يُفۡطَنُ لَهُ فَيُتَصَدَّقَ عَلَيۡه
The poor (Miskin) is not the one who goes round to the people and asks them for a mouthful or two or a date or two. But the poor is the one who does not have enough to satisfy his needs and whose condition is not known to others, so that others may give him something in charity.
This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs using another chain of narration.
Allah's Signs on the Earth and in Mankind
Allah the Exalted and the Blessed said next,
وَفِي الاَۡرۡضِ ايَاتٌ لِّلۡمُوقِنِينَ
And on the earth are signs for those who have faith with certainty.
Allah says that there are signs on earth that testify to the might of the Creator and His boundless ability. These signs include what Allah placed on the earth, the various plants, animals, valleys, mountains, deserts, rivers and oceans.
He also created mankind with different languages, colors, intentions and abilities, and a variety among them, differences in the power of understanding and comprehension, their deeds, and ultimately earning happiness or misery. Allah put every organ in their bodies in its rightful place where they most need it to be.
So He said؛
وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَفَلَ تُبۡصِرُونَ
And also in yourselves. Will you not then see?
Qatadah commented,
He who thinks about his own creation will realize that he was created with flexible joints so that it is easy for him to perform acts of worship.
Allah the Exalted said next
وَفِي السَّمَاء رِزۡقُكُمۡ
And in the heaven is your provision, (meaning, rain),
وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ
and that which you are promised.
meaning Paradise.
This was said by Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and several others.
Allah said:
فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاء وَالاَۡرۡضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِّثۡلَ مَا أَنَّكُمۡ تَنطِقُونَ
Then by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth, just as you can speak.
Allah is swearing by His honorable Self, all of the matters of the Judgement, Resurrection, and Recompense that they have been promised shall certainly occur. Therefore, it is the truth, there being no doubt about it, so do not doubt its coming, just as you do not doubt that you can speak When he would talk to one of his friends,
Mu`adh used to say:What I am saying is as true as your being here.
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