(p-234) Surah Al-Asr

Imam Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is a Surah that if nothing else were revealed to the people, it would have sufficed them. This is the meaning of the words of others: 'Indeed, it encompasses all the sciences of the Qur'an. Its purpose is to highlight the superiority of the type of human created from a clot, and to clarify his salvation and essence, and they are the successful party on the Day of questioning about the purity of deeds after indicating their opposites. It informs about what saves from deeds and states by abandoning the transient and turning towards the everlasting, for it is the essence of the universe and the core of existence. Its name, Al-Asr, is clear in this, for Al-Asr purifies the spirit of the one who is pressed and distinguishes his purity. Therefore, the time of this final Prophet, who is the essence of creation, is the time of Al-Asr. And the prayer of Al-Asr is the best of prayers. The indication of its encompassing the sciences of the Qur'an is the revelation of its entirety upon [what -] Al-Ghazali said: 'The Qur'an is like the sea in which there are islands (p-235) containing six mines. Among them are four important ones: two important ones are the finest rubies, one red for the knowledge of Allah, and the green for His attributes, and the blue for His actions, and the green emerald is the knowledge of the Last Day and what is in it. The first two important ones are the pure pearl, which is the knowledge of the acts of worship that bring one closer to Him, glorified and exalted is He, and the second is the fragrant musk, which is the knowledge of the customs by which acts of worship are prepared. And the two completers are the greater diadem, which is the knowledge of removing doubts, and the suspicions and delusions, for they are poisons and destructive to the religion, and the ambergris, which is the consideration of those who perished by avoiding what caused their destruction, and following those who were saved by adhering to what caused their salvation. Thus, the first sentence is for the ambergris because it contains the scents of the doomed and its opposite, the saved. It was begun with it because repelling evils takes precedence over bringing about benefits. The second sentence is for the rubies with their three attributes and the emerald. The third is for the pearl and the musk, which are intended acts of worship, and customs that are a means to them. The fourth is for the diadem because the suspicions and doubts are merely from idle delusions and false imaginations. The fifth is a means to it and completes it, for knowledge of that and avoiding it can only be achieved by exerting effort in patience.' 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,' 'The Most Merciful' who encompasses with His grace both the righteous and the wicked, so there is nothing comparable to Him. 'The Most Merciful' who has perfected His grace for His allies, so they have become a mark for the ages and a face for His people.

When the pleasure of this apparent worldly life is the enjoyment of what is in it of goods, and man is responsible for what he bears witness to, the abundance of that bliss is concluded with a warning of the sight of Hellfire. Thus, the inhabitant of this abode is in great danger. His bliss is in the utmost distress. He indicates this by stating that most people are doomed, affirming it with an oath and a tool for what is for the majority of denial of that, either by words or by state: 'By time.' That is, the time in which the origin of Adam, blessings and peace be upon him, was created, and it is in the time of Friday as mentioned in the authentic hadith in Muslim, or the middle prayer, or its time which is the time of the one who is the owner of this legislation, the measure of which in the past of time is equivalent to the time of the afternoon of the day or some of it. Or the time of everyone which is the summary concerning him, alerting him to its preciousness, indicating the opportunity to spend it in good, out of fear of being gathered. Or the time of the late afternoon because it is the best of it due to what it contains of free time from work and the welcoming of rest and the attainment of the benefit of what he spent in that day. And by what is indicated by the length of the hour, and he who has goods in it has profited by concluding the deeds and the collapse of the day, and the indication of resurrection, or all of time in which, glorified and exalted is He, He created the creatures and decreed in it the decrees by what appeared in it of wonders indicating what belongs to Allah, the Exalted, of might and greatness, calling to directing the ambition to Him and limiting it to Him.