His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Did you not see how your Lord extended the shadow? If He had willed, He would have made it still. Then We made the sun as a guide over it." "Then We drew it to Us in a gentle drawing." "And He is the One who made for you the night as a garment and sleep as a rest, and made the day a resurrection."

"Did you not see" means: pay attention, and the seeing here is the seeing of the heart. And 'Isa ibn 'Umar merged: "your Lord how," Abu Hatim said: and the clarification is better. And "the extension of the shadow" in general is what is between the beginning of dawn until the sun rises, and after its setting for a short time. For in these two times, there is an extended shadow on the earth even though it is daytime. And at other times of the day, the shadows are fragmented. And "the extension" and "the drawing" are consistent in it, and this is what I mean in the verse, and Allah knows best.

And among the extended shadows is what Allah, blessed and exalted is He, mentioned in the air of Paradise; for when there is no sun in it, its shadow is extended forever.

The statements of the interpreters have agreed that this shadow is from dawn until the sun rises, and this is objected to by the fact that this is not in the daytime, but rather in the remnants of the night, so it cannot be called a shadow.

And His saying, exalted is He: "If He had willed, He would have made it still," means fixed, not moving or transient. But He made the sun and its transience to it and its movement from one place to another as a guide for it, clarifying its existence and the lesson in it. Al-Tabari narrated that if it were not for the sun, it would not be known that the shadow is something; for things are known by their opposites.

And His saying, exalted is He: "a gentle drawing" can mean: subtle, that is: something after something in one instance, not with force. Mujahid said: and it can mean: hastened, and this is the saying of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both. And it can mean: easy and close to reach.

Al-Tabari said: And he described the night as a garment, likening it in that it covers things and envelops them. And "rest" is a type of fainting that befalls the awake due to illness, so the sleeper is likened to it. And "rest" means staying in one place, so it is as if rest is a stillness and stability upon it. And "resurrection" in this context means revival, likening wakefulness to it so that the revival corresponds with death and the passing away that are included in sleep and rest. And it can mean by "resurrection" the time of spreading and dispersing for the seeking of livelihood and the striving for the bounty of Allah. And "the day is a resurrection" and what precedes it is in the same category as: the night is asleep and the day is fasting.