'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And if they were to almost drive you out of the land to expel you from it, then they would not remain after you except for a little while." "This is the way of those whom We sent before you of Our messengers, and you will not find any change in Our way." "Establish prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night and the Qur'an at dawn. Indeed, the Qur'an at dawn is witnessed." "And from the night, spend it in prayer as an additional act for you. Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station." Al-Hadrami said: The pronoun in 'they were to almost' refers to the Jews of Medina and its vicinity, like Banu Nadir and others. This is because they went to plot against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: 'This land is not the land of the prophets, but the land of the prophets is in Sham. However, you fear the Romans. So if you are a prophet, go out to them, for Allah will protect you as He protected others among the prophets.' So the verse was revealed regarding that, and Allah, exalted and glorified is He, informed that if His Messenger were to go out, they would not remain after him except for a little while. Al-Niqash reported that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, went out because of their saying and camped at Dhul-Hulaifah, waiting for his companions. Then the verse was revealed to him, so he returned. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is weak; it has not occurred in any biography or in any book that is relied upon, and Dhul-Hulaifah is not on the way to Sham.

And a group said: The pronoun in "they almost" refers to Quraysh. Al-Zajjaj narrated that their provocation was what they had all agreed upon in the House of Al-Nadwah regarding killing him. And "the earth" - on this - is general in the world, as if he said: They will expel you from the world. And according to other sayings, it is a specific land, either Mecca or Medina, as He, the Exalted, said: ﴿Or they be expelled from the land﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 33]. Or its meaning is: from the land in which they have control and enjoyment. Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said: The provocation of Quraysh is what they went to regarding expelling the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from Mecca, as they previously went to confining him in the Shi'b. And this provocation occurred after the revelation of the verse, and they tightened their grip on him until he left and they followed him to the cave and other than that. And the warning was executed upon them that they would not remain behind him except for a little on the day of Badr. Mujahid said: Quraysh went to this, but it did not happen from them; for when Allah intended to preserve Quraysh and not to eradicate them, He permitted the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to migrate. So he left the land by the permission of Allah, the Exalted, not by the might of Quraysh. And Quraysh remained, with some of them and their descendants who embraced Islam. He said: If Quraysh had expelled him, they would have been punished. Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, went to the pronoun in "they will not remain" being general for all of them. In the Mus'haf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "And if they do not remain" with the noon omitted and the "if" applied, while the rest of the reciters omitted it and affirmed the noon. And Ata ibn Abi Rabah read: "They will remain" with the ya' pronounced and the ba' stressed and the lam opened, and a similar reading was narrated from Ya'qub except that he broke the ba'. And Ata read: "After you except for a little," while the majority read: "Behind you," and Ibn Amer, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Hafs from Asim read: "Contrary to you," and the meaning is the same. And from this is the saying of the poet:

The rain followed its opposite, as if The shores spread a mat between them.

And from this is His saying, the Exalted: ﴿The left behind rejoiced in their sitting contrary to the Messenger of Allah﴾ [At-Tawbah: 81], according to some interpretations, meaning: after the departure of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. And this expression necessitates the omission of the added; for the estimation in our verses is: "contrary to your departure," and in the poet's verse: "contrary to the spreading of the sun" or something similar.

Abu Ali said: They correctly attributed these circumstances to the names of the entities that are not events, so they did not prefer to add it to other than what their speech was about, just as when it was stated in their speech they left it as it was if it occurred in a non-nominative position, like His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And among us are the righteous and among us are others﴾ [Al-Jinn: 11], and His saying, the Exalted: ﴿On the Day of Resurrection He will separate between you﴾ [Al-Mumtahanah: 3].

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And His saying, the Exalted: "Sunnah" is in the accusative case as a source. Al-Fir'aa said: He made it accusative by omitting the preposition; for the meaning is: "like a Sunnah," so he omitted the kaf and made it accusative.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is necessary for him on this that he does not stop at his saying: "a little."

And the meaning of the verse is the news that the Sunnah of Allah, the Exalted, regarding the nations that have passed is that when they expelled their Prophet from among them, they were afflicted with punishment, and destruction overtook them. They did not remain after that except for a short time.

His saying, the Exalted: "Establish the prayer at the decline of the sun". This is, by consensus of the interpreters, an indication of the obligatory prayers.

Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Abu Burdah, Al-Hassan, and the majority said: "The decline of the sun" refers to its zenith, and the indication is to the Dhuhr and Asr prayers. "The darkness of the night" refers to Maghrib and Isha, and "the recitation of the dawn" refers to the Fajr prayer. Thus, the verse encompasses all the prayers. Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Gabriel came to me at the decline of the sun when it had passed its zenith, and he prayed the Dhuhr with me." Jabir narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, came out from him after he had eaten and the sun had set, and he said: "Come out, O Abu Bakr, for this is when the sun has declined."

And Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, and Zayd ibn Aslam said: "The decline of the sun" refers to its setting, and the indication is to Maghrib. And "the darkness of the night" refers to the gathering of its darkness, indicating the late night, and "the recitation of the dawn" refers to the Fajr prayer, and there is no indication - according to the interpretation - to Dhuhr and Asr.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first saying is more correct for its generality regarding the prayers, and they are both linguistically sound. This is because "decline" in the language means inclination. The beginning of the decline is the zenith, and its end is the sunset. From the time of the zenith to sunset is called decline, as they are in a state of inclination. Allah mentioned the prayers that are in a state of decline and at that time, so Dhuhr, Asr, and Maghrib are included in that. It is correct that Maghrib is included in "the darkness of the night". And from the decline, which is the inclination, is the saying of the Bedouin to Al-Hassan ibn Abi Al-Hassan: "Does the man incline with his wife?" meaning: does he incline her towards the debt? Al-Hassan said to him: Yes, if he is in debt, meaning: lacking. And from this is the saying of Dhī al-Rummah:

"The lamps are not those that are led by stars nor by the falling ones."

And from that is the saying of the poet:

"This is the place of the feet of Rabah, in the morning until the decline has occurred."

And it is narrated "the decline" with a kasrah on the bā', Abu Ubaidah, Al-Asma'i, and Abu Amr Al-Shaybani said: Its meaning is: the comfort of the observer, he would rest with it forever to see how it inclines and what remains for it. And this is similar to the saying of Al-Hajjaj:

"And the sun was about to be a decline, I push it with the rest so that it slips away."

And Al-Tabari mentioned from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "It has declined, meaning: it has inclined to a place." He said: If this is from the interpretation of Ibn Mas'ud, then he is more knowledgeable. And if it is from the words of a narrator, then the people of the strange are more knowledgeable about that.

And the first verse is narrated: "In the morning until the decline has occurred" with a fatha on the bā', in the pattern of Qatām and Hizām, which is a name from the names of the sun.

And "the darkness of the night": its gathering and the thickening of its darkness, as the poet said:

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: The darkness of the night is its beginning.

And His saying, the Most High: "And the Qur'an of dawn" is understood as an implied action, the meaning of which is: and read the Qur'an. It is also correct to interpret it as an addition to "the prayer," meaning: and establish the Qur'an of dawn. He specifically referred to the Fajr prayer as the Qur'an because the recitation of it is lengthy and requires effort. It is also correct to interpret His saying: "Qur'an" as an exhortation. And His saying: "Indeed, the Qur'an of dawn was witnessed" means: it is witnessed by the guardians of the day and the guardians of the night from the angels, as has been reported in the famous hadith from his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Angels take turns among you, angels by night and angels by day, and they gather in the prayer of dawn and the prayer of 'Asr." The hadith is lengthy and narrated by Abu Huraira and others. The majority have agreed on this.

And Al-Tabari mentioned a hadith from Ibn Askar, through Abu Darda, regarding His saying, the Most High: "was witnessed," Muhammad ibn Sahl ibn Askar said: (It is witnessed by Allah and His angels), and he mentioned in that hadith that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, descends at the end of the night, and this is not a strong narration.

And His saying, the Most High: "And from the night," the "from" indicates a part, and the meaning is: and a time from the night, meaning: and establish a time from the night. The pronoun in "with it" refers back to this implied meaning, and it is possible that it refers back to the Qur'an even though it has not been mentioned explicitly, as the pronoun is absolute, but it has been added to the dawn. And "Tahajjud" means: cast off sleep from you, and sleep is called: Hujud. It is said: Hajada yahjudu - with a Dhamma on the Jim - Hujud when one sleeps. From this is the saying of the poet:

"Did not the companions come to us while they were asleep, and they spent the night with the ailments of generosity?"

And from this is the saying of Al-Hatimi:

"So may you be greeted with love, what has guided you to a group, and you are among the tallest of those who are awake."

This action is similar to: to strive and to be cautious and to feel guilty and to seek righteousness, and similar to His saying: "So you remained in regret" [Al-Waqi'a: 65], meaning: you cast off the fruit from yourselves, which is the expansion of the soul and its joy. It is said: a joyful man is one who is full of happiness and laughter. The meaning is: and a time from the night spend it in prayer and recitation. And Al-Aswad, Al-Qam'a, and Abdur-Rahman ibn Al-Aswad said: Tahajjud is after a sleep. And Al-Hajjaj ibn Amr said: Tahajjud is only after a nap. And Al-Hasan said: Tahajjud is what is after the last 'Isha.

And His saying, the Most High: "A voluntary act for you," Ibn Abbas and others said: Its meaning is: an increase for you in the obligatory. They said: And the night prayer was obligatory upon the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The verse may imply that this is in the context of encouragement regarding voluntary prayers. The address is to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and what is meant is him and his community, similar to his address in His saying, "Establish prayer at the decline of the sun." Mujahid said: It is only a voluntary prayer for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, because he is forgiven, and people reduce their sins with something like that. It has been clarified that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, has had all his past and future sins forgiven since the year of Hudaybiyyah. Therefore, his voluntary prayers and his seeking forgiveness are virtues of action and closer than the voluntary prayers of his community. This is because these may either compensate for their obligatory acts or reduce their sins. It can be imagined that someone without sin performs voluntary prayers, and his voluntary acts would be a virtue, like a Christian who submits or a boy who reaches puberty. Al-Tabari weakened the saying of Mujahid.

And His saying, "Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station," is a promise from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, to His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. It is the matter of intercession, which the prophets compete for until it reaches him, blessings and peace be upon him. The lengthy hadith is in Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and for this reason, we have summarized it. For this potential, which he has in pleasing all of the world, both believers and disbelievers, he said: "I am the master of the children of Adam, and there is no pride in that." And "perhaps" from Allah is obligatory, and "a station" is in the accusative case as an adverbial.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Among the strange aspects of the hadith of intercession is its brevity in meaning. This is because the beginning of the hadith necessitates that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, is urged for intercession so that people may be judged and they may leave the standing place. He goes for that and states as a result that he interceded for the release of the sinners from the Fire. Thus, its meaning is brevity and conciseness; because intercession for the sinners does not occur except after the reckoning and leaving the standing place, and the entry of some into Paradise and others into the Fire. This intercession is not competed for by the prophets; rather, they intercede, and the scholars intercede. Al-Tabari mentioned from Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The praised station is the station in which I intercede for my community."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This should be interpreted as we have said: for his community and others, or it could be said that each of them is a praised station. Al-Naqqash said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, has three intercessions: the general one, an intercession for being the first to enter Paradise, and an intercession for the people of major sins.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is well-known that there are only two intercessions. Al-Tabari narrated from a group of them, Mujahid, that they said: The praised station is that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, seats Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, with Him upon His Throne. They narrated a hadith regarding this, and Al-Tabari supported the permissibility of that with a far-fetched saying, which does not go beyond being gentle in meaning, and in it is distance. However, it cannot be denied that it is narrated, and knowledge interprets it. Al-Naqqash mentioned from Abu Dawood Al-Sijistani that he said: Whoever denies this hadith is, in our view, suspect; the people of knowledge have continued to discuss this.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Whoever denies its permissibility based on its interpretation.