His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿So I swear by the twilight﴾ ﴿and by the night and what it gathers﴾ ﴿and by the moon when it is full﴾ ﴿you will certainly go through state after state﴾ ﴿so what is wrong with them that they do not believe﴾ ﴿and when the Qur'an is recited to them, they do not prostrate﴾ ﴿rather, those who disbelieve deny﴾ ﴿and Allah knows best what they conceal﴾ ﴿so give them tidings of a painful punishment﴾ ﴿except for those who believe and do righteous deeds; for them is a reward uninterrupted.﴾

"No" is an addition, and the meaning is: "So I swear." It is said that "no" is a response to the words of the disbelievers, and the saying begins: "I swear." The oath of Allah, exalted is He, by His creations is in the context of honoring them and exposing them for reflection, as the oath by them serves as a reminder of them. And "the twilight" is the redness that follows the setting of the sun along with the whiteness that follows it in most cases. It is said that the twilight here refers to the entire day, as Mujahid said, and this is a weak statement. Abu Huraira and Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said: "The twilight is the whiteness that follows the redness."

And "gathers" means: collects and brings together, and from it is "wasq," meaning the gathered measures. The night gathers the animals altogether, meaning it collects them within itself and encompasses them, and likewise all the creatures that are in the earth and the air, such as the seas, mountains, winds, and others.

And "the fullness of the moon" means its completeness and perfection as a full moon, so the meaning is: it is filled with light.

Nafi', Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, Asim, and Ibn Abbas - with a difference from them - and Abu Ja'far, Al-Hasan, Al-Amash, Qatadah, and Ibn Jubair read "you will certainly go through" with the 'baa' pronounced, addressing the people. The meaning is: you will certainly go through hardships, death, resurrection, and reckoning state after state, or the states from the sperm to old age, as one says: state after state. And "after" comes with the meaning of "after," as one says: "the glory was inherited from ancestor to ancestor." It is said that the meaning is: you will certainly go through these states, one nation after another, and from it is the saying of Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, about the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him:

And when you were sent, the earth shone and the paths were illuminated by your light.

You are transferred from a solid to a womb, when a world passes, a state appears.

Meaning a generation of people; for it is the state of the earth. Al-Aqra' ibn Habis said:

Indeed, I am a man who has milked the ages, its halves, and a state has carried me from it to another state.

Meaning state after state. And it is said that the meaning is: you will certainly go through the Hereafter after the first. Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "You will certainly go through" as they are in the unseen. Abu Ubaidah said: the meaning is: you will certainly follow the ways of those before you.

As in the hadith: "A span by a span, and an arm by an arm," this is a layer upon layer. This meaning aligns with this reading that we mentioned from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him. It is good with the first reading. Ibn Kathir, Hamzah, al-Kisai, Amr ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, al-Aswad, Ibn Jubayr, Ma'ruf, al-Shabi, Abu al-Aliya, Ibn Wathab, and 'Isa read: "You will certainly ride" with the opening of the letter 'ba', meaning: You, O Muhammad. It was said that the meaning is: one situation after another in dealing with the disbelievers. Ibn Abbas said: A sky after a sky in the Isra. It was said that it is a promise of victory, meaning: You will certainly ride the matter of the Arabs tribe after tribe and victory after victory as it was and was found thereafter. Ibn Mas'ud said: The meaning is: You will certainly ride the sky in the horrors of the Day of Resurrection, one situation after another. It will be like molten metal and like paint, and it will burst and crack. The sky is the doer. Ibn Abbas also read, and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them: "They will certainly ride" regarding the mention of the absent. It is either intended that Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, according to the previous meanings, and Ibn Abbas said: Your Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, as an Imam. Some people in the book of al-Naqqash said that the intended meaning is the moon because it changes states and secrets and new beginnings.

Then Allah, the Exalted, addressed His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him - and the intended meaning is those disbelievers - with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "So what is wrong with them that they do not believe?" That is: What is their argument against these clear proofs? The majority read: "They deny" with the 'ya' pronounced and the 'dhal' emphasized. Al-Dahhak read it with the 'ya' opened and the 'dhal' softened and the 'kaf' silent. And "they gather" means: they collect from deeds and denial and disbelief, as if they are placing them in containers. You say: I have retained knowledge and I have gathered provisions. And Allah, the Exalted, made the good news in the punishment when He stated it, and when it comes unrestricted, it is only from good.

Then Allah, the Exalted, excluded from the disbelievers of Quraysh those people who had previously believed in His decree. And "mamnun" means: cut off, from their saying: a cut-off rope, meaning: cut off. From it is the saying of al-Harith ibn Hilizah al-Yashkuri:

You see behind them from the return and the occurrence, cut off as if it were dust.

He means scattered dust. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Mamnun" means: counted upon them, accounted for, and troubled by the grace.

The interpretation of Surah [Al-Inshiqaq] is complete, and praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.