عَمَُّْ ْ 1524 اَلْفَجْر
وَالْفَجْرِ ﴿۱﴾ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ﴿۲﴾ وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ ﴿۳﴾ وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ﴿۴﴾ هَلْ فِي ذَلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِذِي حِجْرٍ ﴿۵﴾ أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ ﴿۶﴾ إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ ﴿۷﴾ الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ ﴿۸﴾
﴾1﴿ Wal-Fajr
﴾2﴿ Wa layaalin 'ashr
﴾3﴿ Wash shaf'i wal watr
﴾4﴿ Wallaili izaa yasr
﴾5﴿ Hal fee zaalika qasamul lizee hijr
﴾6﴿ Alam tara kaifa fa'ala rabbuka bi'aad
﴾7﴿ Iramaa zaatil 'imaad
﴾8﴿ Allatee lam yukhlaq misluhaa fil bilaad
﴾1﴿ I swear by the time of dawn
﴾2﴿ And by the ten nights
﴾3﴿ And by the even and the odd
﴾4﴿ And by the night when it departs
﴾5﴿ Indeed, in this is a complete portion for those endowed with understanding
﴾6﴿ Did you not see what your Lord did with the people of ‘Ād
﴾7﴿ Who were Iram, possessing great pillars
﴾8﴿ They were such that none like them had been created in all the cities
Relevancy:
This surah is connected to the previous one in several ways. The first connection is that while the previous surah mentioned the warning of the punishment of the Hereafter, this surah explains the way to be saved from that punishment, which is by humbling oneself and supplicating to Allah the Exalted during blessed times.
The second connection is that the previous surah spoke about the punishment of the Hereafter, whereas this one presents examples of worldly punishments.
Claim of this surah:
The surah encourages supplication and humility before Allah during blessed times, along with avoiding disease and the causes of disease. The basis of this argument is found in five verses, with disease mentioned in verses (11, 12) and its causes in verses (17, 18, 19, 20).
Additionally, the name of Allah, "Rabb" (Lord), is mentioned eight times to establish the oneness of His Lordship (Tawhid al-Rububiyyah).
Summary of the surah:
The surah contains oaths by five blessed times, and its argument extends until verse (5). Then, it presents a warning of worldly punishment for those who do not humble themselves before Allah, mentioning three nations that denied the truth:
‘Ād, who were arrogant due to their physical strength,
Thamūd, who were arrogant due to their strong dwellings and craftsmanship,
Pharaoh, who was arrogant because of his kingship (verse 10).
Next, the disease of transgression (ṭughyān) and corruption (fasād) is mentioned in verses (11, 12), followed by the punishment in verses (13, 14).
The surah then rebukes the love of the world, as people consider it a sign of honor or disgrace (until verse 16). As a consequence of this worldly attachment, four reprehensible traits (which are diseases of the soul) are mentioned until verse (20).
After that, the warning of the Hereafter is given in eight aspects (until verse 26), and the surah concludes with glad tidings in six aspects.
[1,2] This is the first oath: "By the dawn" (وَالفَجْرِ). It is well known that "Fajr" refers to the morning, but there are various interpretations of its specific meaning:
The dawn of every day.
The dawn of the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr, 10th of Dhul-Hijjah).
The dawn of the Day of Arafah (9th of Dhul-Hijjah).
The Fajr prayer.
"And the ten nights" (وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ)—This is the second oath. There are two primary interpretations regarding its meaning:
It refers to the first ten nights of Dhul-Hijjah.
It refers to the last ten nights of Ramadan.
[3] "By the even and the odd" (وَالشَّفْعِ وَالوَترِ)
"Shaf‘" (شفع) refers to numbers that can be evenly divided, like two, four, etc. (i.e., even numbers).
"Watr" (وتر) refers to numbers that cannot be evenly divided, like one, three, etc. (i.e., odd numbers).
There are multiple interpretations by the Mufassirun regarding the meaning of this verse:
It refers to the sacred sites of Hajj:
The House of Allah (Ka‘bah), Jamarāt, ‘Arafah, Mina, and Muzdalifah are all considered odd (watr).
Ṣafā and Marwah are considered even (shaf‘).
It refers to the acts of Hajj:
Certain acts of Hajj are odd (watr), such as Ṭawāf, Sa‘ī, and the stoning of the Jamarāt.
Others are even (shaf‘), such as the two Rak‘ahs of prayer after Ṭawāf.
It refers to the prayers:
The even (shaf‘) prayers include those with two or four Rak‘ahs.
The odd (watr) prayer includes those with one or three Rak‘ahs.
[4] This is the fifth oath: "And by the night when it departs" (وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ).
The intended meaning of "layl" (اللَّيْلِ) is every night that passes, particularly the time of Tahajjud (the pre-dawn prayer).
The word "yasr" (يَسْرِ) (meaning "when it departs") indicates that this interpretation is the strongest, as it emphasizes the significance of the night as it fades into dawn, which is a special time for worship and supplication.
[1,2] This is the first oath, and "Fajr" is clearly understood to mean morning, but there are many interpretations of its meaning: (1) the dawn of every day, (2) the dawn of the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr), (3) the dawn of the Day of Arafah, and (4) the Fajr prayer.
"And [by] ten nights" (وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ) – This is the second oath, and the intended meaning of "ten nights" could either be the ten days and nights of the month of Dhul-Hijjah or the last ten days of Ramadan.
[3] "And [by] the even" (وَالشَّفْعِ) – This refers to numbers that can be evenly divided, such as two, four, and so on (i.e., even numbers).
"And the odd" (وَالوَترِ) – This refers to numbers that cannot be evenly divided, such as one, three, and so on (i.e., odd numbers).
There are many interpretations by the commentators regarding its meaning:
It refers to the sacred places of Hajj. That is, the House of Allah (Ka'bah), the Jamarat, Arafah, Mina, and Muzdalifah are all odd (witr), while Safa and Marwah are even (shaf‘).
It refers to the rituals of Hajj, which are of two types: Tawaf, Sa‘i, and the stoning of the Jamarat are odd (witr), while the two units (rak‘ahs) of Tawaf prayer are even (shaf‘).
It refers to the prayers, meaning that the two- and four-unit prayers are even (shaf‘), while the three- and one-unit prayers are odd (witr).
[3] (وَالشَّفْعِ) refers to numbers that can be evenly divided, such as two, four, etc. (i.e., even numbers), while (وَتْر) refers to numbers that cannot be evenly divided, such as one, three, etc. (i.e., odd numbers). There are many interpretations among commentators regarding its meaning:
Some interpret it as referring to the sacred places of Hajj, where the Kaaba (House of Allah), Jamarat, Arafah, Mina, and Muzdalifah are all considered odd (وَتْر), while Safa and Marwah are even (شَفْع).
Others interpret it in terms of Hajj rituals, where Tawaf, Sa'i, and Rami of Jamarat are odd (وَتْر), while the two units of prayer after Tawaf are even (شَفْع).
Another interpretation relates it to prayers, where two and four-unit prayers are even (شَفْع), and three-unit or single-unit prayers are odd (وَتْر).
[4] This is the fifth category. The meaning of اللَّيْلِ (the night) is every night that passes, and it is the time for tahajjud (the night prayer). The word يَسْرِ (passes) indicates that this interpretation is better.
[5] This is the response to the oath, and هَل here means إِنَّ (indeed). ذَلِكَ (that) refers to the five oaths mentioned earlier with the given interpretation. قَسَمٌ means an oath, and Khazin has stated that it means sufficiency, meaning these oaths provide benefit to people of intellect; they suffice and believe in them. Alternatively, قسم can mean قِسم (portion), implying that in these blessed times, people of intellect can attain their share. During these times, they humble themselves before Allah Almighty and supplicate earnestly.
The word حِجْرٍ originally refers to something that prevents, and reason (عقل) is called حِجْر because it also prevents one from committing evil, wasting time in vain activities, and being excessively attached to worldly matters.
[6,7,8] After mentioning the state of those who supplicate humbly, the condition of the arrogant is described as a form of worldly warning. Three examples of such people are given. The first is those whose arrogance stemmed from their abundance of wealth and physical strength—namely, the ‘Ād people.
بِعَادٍ refers to ‘Ād, which was originally the name of one of their ancestors and later became the name of their tribe. إِرَمَ refers to ‘Ād al-Ūlā (the first ‘Ād), because ‘Ād was the son of Iram, who was the son of Hūdh, the son of Sām, the son of Nūḥ (peace be upon him).
ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ means that they mostly lived in tents supported by tall pillars, or that their bodies were tall and strong like pillars.