And when some people sometimes exaggerate in worship and it becomes difficult for themselves, and sometimes it becomes difficult for others, He, glorified and exalted is He, indicated to moderation as a relief from the toil that befalls a person. He indicated to what one does during the state of the connection of the soul with the body, which is the state of life. The benefit of it is to equip oneself with every good for what lies ahead, the horror of the graves. For the soul is in the utmost delicacy, and the prostration is in the utmost density, because it is from the realm of command, where creation occurs in a single instance without gradual development. The body is from the realm of creation, so it is strange in it and needs to be comforted. It should be comforted by everything that brings it closer to the spiritual world, which is free from the attachments of bodies. This is achieved by directing the heart entirely away from these worldly matters and engaging in the remembrance and prayers and all good deeds. For that is what aids in its connection to its high, noble, and precious world. The best aid for that is wisdom, which is justice in deeds and moderation in words and actions. So he said, resuming the answer about facilitating the way and building it on the sound, easy path, where there is no obstacle to it except the hand of power. "Indeed, your Lord," meaning the one who manages your affairs in a way that is good to you and gentle with you and your nation, "knows that you stand," meaning in prayer as you were commanded at the beginning of the surah.

And when the abundance of deeds is praiseworthy and their scarcity is the opposite of that, he borrowed for the lesser [his saying]: "the nearest," meaning a lesser time. The nearest is shared between the closer and the lower in rank because both require a short distance. "From two-thirds of the night" in some nights, "and half of it and a third of it" [meaning -] and lesser than each of them in some nights - this is according to the reading of the majority. The meaning, according to the reading of Ibn Kathir and the Kufans with the accusative, specifies the half and the third that falls under the lesser of the two-thirds. This is in both readings consistent with what was chosen in the beginning of the surah between standing for the half in its entirety or the deficient part of it, which is the third, or the additional part, which is the two-thirds, or the lesser of the lesser than the half, which is the quarter.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned his standing, blessings and peace be upon him, He followed it with the standing of his followers. So he said, adding to the hidden pronoun in "you stand" and enhancing it with the separation: "and a group" meaning a group will also stand in it, having the ability to gather by their attentiveness towards you and the attentiveness of some of them to one another. And since it is customary that a companion sometimes refers to those with a person by saying without his heart, he shifted to his saying: "from those who are with you," meaning by their words and actions, that is, upon Islam. It is as if he chose this without saying "from the Muslims" because he understands that a group did not stand with this standing, so he did not want to label them as Muslims. The companionship is broader.

And when standing - upon this disparity with striving in the precedence in worship indicates a lack of knowledge about the measures as they are, Allah, the Most High, said: ﴿And Allah﴾ meaning you stand like this due to your lack of knowledge about the measures of the hours regarding the determination, while the King, who encompasses everything in ability and knowledge, alone ﴿determines﴾ meaning a great determination that is in the utmost of determination ﴿the night and the day﴾ so He knows every detail of each of them as they are because He is their Creator, and nothing of them exists except by Him. ﴿Does He not know who created?﴾ [Al-Mulk: 14].

And when He knew of this hardship upon them in standing at night in this manner, in knowledge and action, He translated that by saying: ﴿He knew﴾ meaning Allah, glorified and exalted is He ﴿that you will not be able to enumerate﴾ meaning you are not able to determine in knowledge and action, and from this is His saying, blessings and peace be upon him, "Be upright, and you will not be able to enumerate." ﴿So He turned﴾ meaning it resulted from this knowledge that He, glorified and exalted is He, returned with the abrogation of what was made obligatory ﴿upon you﴾ by permitting you to leave the prescribed standing at the beginning of the Surah, meaning He lifted the burden from you in leaving the standing according to that measure which He had determined, just as He lifted it from the repentant, and as if He named it repentance even if there was not then a sin, indicating that it is in its nature, due to its heaviness, to be drawn to sin.

And when he raised it, he caused their matter to be easy for them. He said, expressing the prayer by the recitation, because it is the greatest of its pillars, indicating that the night prayer is recommended, not obligatory: ﴿So read﴾, meaning in prayer or outside of it, at night and during the day, ﴿what is easy﴾, meaning what is easy and simple for you, and has become gentle and submissive to you, ﴿of the Qur'an﴾, meaning the book that encompasses all that benefits you. Al-Qushayri said: It is said: from five verses to what increases, and it is said: from ten verses to what increases. Al-Baghawi said: Qays ibn Abi Hazim said: I prayed behind Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, in Basra, and he recited in the first rak'ah with Al-Fatiha and the first verse of Al-Baqarah. Then he stood in the second rak'ah and recited with Al-Fatiha and the second verse. It is said that he commanded the recitation to be performed alone, establishing it in place of what was obligatory upon them from the prayer, with an increase in ease. For this reason, Abu Dawood, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Hibban narrated in their authentic collections from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever stands with ten verses will not be written among the heedless, and whoever stands with a hundred verses will be written among the devout, and whoever stands with a thousand verses will be written among those who have abundance." Al-Mundhiri said: From Surah Al-Mulk to the end of the Qur'an is a thousand verses. And when this was an abrogation of what was obligatory from standing at night at the beginning of the Surah, due to His knowledge, glorified and exalted is He, of its non-countability, the secret of that general knowledge with detailed knowledge is an explanation for another wisdom of the abrogation. He said: ﴿He knew that﴾, meaning that ﴿there will be﴾, meaning by necessity that you must have ﴿among you the sick﴾, the plural of sick. And this Surah is among the first that was revealed to him, blessings and peace be upon him. So in this is a glad tidings that the people of Islam will increase greatly.

And when he mentioned the excuse of the sick person and began with it because it is more general and the sick person has no ability to push it away, he followed it with travel for trade because it is related to it in general. He said, giving glad tidings with the increase of the people of Islam in the expansion of the land for them: ﴿And others﴾ meaning those who are not sick ﴿are striving﴾ meaning they are inflicting strikes ﴿in the land﴾ meaning they are traveling because the one who walks with seriousness and diligence strikes the ground with his foot. Then he resumed explaining the reason for the striving by saying: ﴿seeking﴾ meaning they are requesting with great effort. He indicated the vastness of what is with Allah by saying it is beyond their hopes: ﴿from the bounty of Allah﴾ meaning some of what the Greatest King has created for His servants, and there is no need for it in any way of profit in trade or learning knowledge. ﴿And others﴾ meaning among you, O Muslims ﴿are fighting﴾ meaning they are seeking and inflicting the killing of the enemies of Allah. For this reason, he clarified it by saying: ﴿in the way of Allah﴾ meaning that killing is attributed to the path of the Greatest King to remove from His conduct that which prevents the killing of the highway robbers, both in a spiritual and physical sense. He made it clear and did not conceal it, emphasizing the greatness of jihad and so that it would not be confused with returning to trade. This is an invitation for us from Allah to the mercy of His servants and to consider their excuses. For whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy. Al-Baghawi said: Ibrahim narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: Any man who brings something from a city of the cities of the Muslims, patient and seeking reward, and sells it at the price of his day, will be with Allah in the rank of the martyrs. Then Abdullah recited: ﴿And others are striving in the land seeking﴾ the verse. And from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, he said: Allah did not create a death that I will die after being killed in the way of Allah that is more beloved to me than to die among my people, striking the ground, seeking from the bounty of Allah.

And when these were other excuses necessitating a concession or reasons for not being counted, he arranged the previous ruling upon them. He said, confirming the reading to clarify its greater significance: ﴿So read﴾ meaning each one of you ﴿what is easy﴾ meaning for you ﴿of it﴾ meaning the Qur'an, implying that it is the same as the previous one. Thus, the obligation became to perform something from the night in a manner of ease, then that was abrogated by the five daily prayers. And when it was appropriate to intend [by it] the prayer because it is the greatest of its pillars and to intend by it itself without additional prayer in the lightening, he said, favoring the intention of this second or specifying the intention of the first: ﴿And establish﴾ meaning create the establishment of ﴿the prayer﴾ that is prescribed with all the matters that it requires from its pillars, conditions, prerequisites, complements, forms, enhancements, and completions.

And when he reminded of the attribute of the Creator, which is [the Oneness -] one of the two pillars of physical and financial Islam, he followed it with the other pillar, which is the connection between the creatures. He said: ﴿And give﴾ from the good of your wealth which We have bestowed upon you ﴿the zakah﴾, meaning the obligatory one. When the intended obligation is known, he followed it with all obligatory and recommended expenditures. He said: ﴿And lend to Allah﴾, meaning the Most High King who possesses all attributes of perfection, among which is absolute wealth, from your bodies and your wealth in the times of your health and prosperity ﴿a good loan﴾ from all voluntary good deeds in all of His legislation, with complete desire and in a beautiful manner in its beginning, end, and all its states. For indeed, it is preserved for you with Him, blessed in it, so that He may return it to you multiplied when you are most in need of it.

And when this religion is comprehensive, and this Qur'an is wise because its sender has attributes of perfection, he commanded in these phrases with the essentials of deeds, giving them importance. He followed that with a general command regarding all the laws of the religion, saying: ﴿And whatever you send forth﴾. And he urged sincerity of intention by saying: ﴿for yourselves﴾, meaning specifically in advance for what comes after death, as you will not be able to perform deeds ﴿of good﴾, meaning any good that is from bodily and financial acts of worship ﴿you will find it﴾ preserved for you ﴿with Allah﴾, meaning the One who encompasses everything in power and knowledge ﴿He is﴾, meaning none other than Him, ﴿better﴾, meaning for you. And it is permissible for there to be a separation between two non-knowledgeable things because “more than” is like knowledge, and for this reason, the definite article is prevented from entering it.

And when [everyone -] whoever does good is rewarded for it, whether at death or in life, whether he is a disbeliever or a sincere Muslim or not, if he is sincere, his reward is in the Hereafter; otherwise, it is in this world. He said: ﴿And a greater reward﴾, meaning more than what is for one who bequeaths in the sickness of death, and [it is -] to the extent that he is rewarded for it in this world.

And when a person does what he is praised for, especially if the one praising him is his Lord, he may be overtaken by admiration. He clarified to him that he cannot, in any way, estimate Allah as He should be estimated. He is always deficient, and he has no choice but to seek forgiveness, rather, to seek pardon. He said, urging that the conclusion of deeds should be with seeking forgiveness and acknowledging shortcomings in the service of the Supreme and Mighty One, indicating the state of the separation of his soul from his body and that its righteousness is rest from all evil: ﴿And seek forgiveness from Allah﴾, meaning seek and find the covering of the Greatest King, whom you cannot encompass in knowledge [so how -] in fulfilling the right of His service due to your shortcomings in essence and effect by doing what pleases Him and avoiding what angers Him.

And when he knew from the context and from the expression with the Greatest Name that He, glorified and exalted is He, is profound in greatness to a degree that brings despair of His response, he explained the matter by saying, confirming what those who contemplate His greatness, glorified and exalted is He, and the severity of His vengeance and the power of His might might find distant: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾. And he made it clear that His attributes do not limit their effects to those who seek forgiveness nor to the general supplicants. ﴿Forgiving﴾ means He is profound in concealing the essence of sins and their effects so that there is no reproach or punishment upon them. ﴿Merciful﴾ means He is profound in honoring after concealment, bestowing kindness, and granting respect and favor. This surah includes an explanation of the words of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in what he was given of comprehensive words: "O Allah, rectify for me my religion which is my safeguard in my affairs, and rectify for me my worldly life in which is my livelihood, and rectify for me my Hereafter to which is my return. And make life an increase for me in every good, and make death a relief for me from every evil." As every phrase of it has been referred to in its place. And indeed, the end of the surah - by encouraging action and mentioning its reward - returns to the beginning, commanding standing before Him and indicating seeking forgiveness to the greatness of the station, even if the action is great and enduring, even if it is in standing in the darkness of the nights while people are asleep. So glorified is He who has this miraculous speech for all of creation, encompassing majesty and honor. So glorified is He, the God who mends the broken hearts.