'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Fajr

It is Makki according to the majority of the interpreters. Abu Amr Al-Dani reported in his book, which is authored on the revelation of the Qur'an, from some scholars that he said: It is Madani. The former is more famous and correct.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿By the dawn﴾ ﴿And ten nights﴾ ﴿And the even and the odd﴾ ﴿And the night when it passes﴾ ﴿Is there in that an oath for one of perception﴾ ﴿Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with 'Aad﴾ ﴿Iram of the pillars﴾ ﴿Which had not been created like it in the lands﴾ ﴿And Thamud, who carved out the rocks in the valley﴾ ﴿And Pharaoh, owner of the stakes﴾ ﴿Those who transgressed in the lands﴾ ﴿And increased therein corruption﴾ ﴿So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment﴾ ﴿Indeed, your Lord is surely in observation﴾

The majority of the interpreters said: "The dawn" here is the well-known dawn that rises every day. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The dawn is the entire day. Ibn Abbas also said and Zayd ibn Aslam: The dawn by which Allah swore is the Fajr prayer, and he recited: "Indeed, the Qur'an of the dawn." Mujahid said: He only meant the dawn of the day of sacrifice. Al-Dahhak said: What is meant is the dawn of Dhul-Hijjah. Al-Muqatil said: What is meant is the dawn of the day of gathering. Ibn Abbas also said: What is meant is the dawn of the first day of Muharram because it is the dawn of the year. It was said: What is meant is the dawn of the springs from the rocks and others. Ikrimah said: What is meant is the dawn of Friday.

People differed regarding "the ten nights" - some narrators said: They are the first ten of Ramadan, and Ibn Abbas and Al-Dahhak said: They are the last ten of Ramadan. Yamani and a group of the interpreters said: They are the first ten of Muharram, in which is the day of Ashura. Ibn Al-Zubair, Mujahid, Qatadah, Al-Dahhak, Al-Suddi, and Atiyyah Al-Awfi said: They are the ten of Dhul-Hijjah. Mujahid said: They are the ten of Musa, peace be upon him, which Allah completed for him. The majority recited: "And ten nights," while some of the reciters read: [And ten nights] with the addition. It seems that this is based on the fact that "the ten" is indicated specifically by knowledge of it, then the oath occurred by its nights. It is as if "the ten" is a name that is fixed to it, and this is similar to their saying: "I did such and such in the middle ten," for this is based on the fact that "the ten" is a name that is fixed until it is treated as a singular, then it is described by it. Those who considered the nights said: "The middle ten."

And the people differed regarding 'the pair and the single.' Jabir reported from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'The pair is on the Day of Sacrifice, and the single is on the Day of Arafah.' Abu Ayyub narrated from him, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'The pair is on the Day of Arafah and the Day of Sacrifice, and the single is on the night of the Day of Sacrifice.' Imran ibn Husayn reported from him, may blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'They are the prayers, among them the pair and among them the single.' Ibn al-Zubair and others said: The pair is the two days of the Days of Tashreeq, and the single is the third day. Others said: The pair is the knowledgeable, and the single is Allah, glorified and exalted is He; for He, the Most High, is the One alone, and others are not like that. Some of the interpreters said: The pair is Adam and Hawwa, peace be upon them, and the single is Allah, glorified and exalted is He. Ibn Sirin, Masruq, and Abu Salih said: The pair and the single are common among all creation, faith and disbelief, humans and jinn, and what follows this is opposites or like opposites. And Allah, the Most High, made the single one. It was said: The pair is Safa and Marwah, and the single is the House. Al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl said: The pair is the gates of Paradise because they are eight, and the single is the gates of Hell because they are seven. Muqatil said: The pair is the days and nights, and the single is the Day of Resurrection because there is no night after it. Abu Bakr al-Warraq said: The pair is the opposing attributes of the created beings, like honor and humiliation, and the single is the unity of the attributes of Allah, the Most High, pure honor and pure generosity, and the like. It was said: The pair is the Qur'an of Hajj and Umrah, and the single is the singularity in Hajj. Al-Hasan said: Allah, the Most High, swore by the number because it is either a pair or a single. Some of the interpreters said: The pair is Hawwa and the single is Adam, peace be upon them. Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: The single is the Maghrib prayer and the pair is the Fajr prayer. Abu al-Aliya said: The pair is the two rak'ahs of Maghrib and the single is the last rak'ah. Some of the scholars said: The pair is the night voluntary prayers two by two, and the single is the known last rak'ah.

And the majority of the reciters and the people read: 'and the single' with a fatḥah on the waw, which is the language of Quraysh and the people of Hijaz. Hamzah, al-Kisai, al-Hasan - with a difference - Abu Rajaa, Ibn Waththab, Talhah, al-Amash, and Qatadah read: 'and the single' with a kasrah on the waw, which is the language of Tamim and Bakr. Al-Zahrawi mentioned that al-Agharr narrated it from Ibn Abbas, and these are two languages regarding the singular. As for al-Dahl, it is only 'single' with a kasrah, nothing else. Al-Zahrawi mentioned that al-Asma'i reported both languages, the fatḥah and the kasrah.

'And the night has passed' means its departure and fading away. This is the saying of the majority. Ibn Qutaybah, Al-Akhfash, and others said: the meaning is that it moves in it. This saying comes in the context of 'a sleeping night and a fasting day.' Mujahid, Ikrimah, and Al-Kalbi said: he meant by this the night of Friday because it moves in it. The majority read: 'yasri' without a 'ya' in connection and pause. Ibn Kathir read: 'yasri' with the 'ya' in connection and pause. Nafi' and Abu Amr read - with a difference from him - 'yasri' with a 'ya' in connection and without it in pause. Omitting it is a lightening for the balance of the verses since they are pauses like rhymes. Al-Yazidi said: the connection in this and similar cases is with the 'ya', and the pause is without the 'ya' according to the line of the mushaf. And Allah, the Exalted, paused at these great divisions: is there in them a convincing argument and a reckoning for the one with intellect? 'Al-hijr' means reason and restraint. The meaning is: the one with reason will be deterred and will reflect on the signs of Allah, the Exalted. Then Allah, the Exalted, paused at the downfall of the past nations of disbelievers and what your Lord has done of punishment and destruction. The intended meaning by this is the threat to Quraysh and the setting of an example for them. 'Aad' is a tribe, there is no disagreement in that. People have differed regarding 'Iram' - Mujahid and Qatadah said: it is the tribe itself. On this, Ibn Qays Al-Ruqayyat said: 'A glorious legacy built by its first, who reached 'Aad and before it 'Iram.' And Zuhayr said: 'And others, you see the Mādī that they counted among the lineage of Dawud or what 'Iram' inherited.'

Ibn Ishaq said: Irām is the father of all of 'Ād. He is 'Ād ibn 'Auwṣ ibn Irām ibn Sām ibn Nūḥ, peace be upon him. Other than Ibn Ishaq said: He is one of her ancestors. The majority of the interpreters said: Irām is a great city that was on the face of time in Yemen. Muhammad ibn Ka'b said: It is 'Alexandria'. Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib and al-Muqbiri said: It is Damascus. These two sayings are weak. Mujahid said: 'Irām' means: ancient. The majority read: 'with 'Ād Irām', so they declined 'Ād' intending the tribe, and they described it with 'Irām' with a broken hamzah as it is the tribe itself. This is supported by the saying of the Jews to the Arabs: A prophet will emerge among us whom we will follow, and we will kill you with him as 'Ād and Irām were killed. This implies that it is a tribe. According to this reading, it is plausible that 'Irām' is a father of 'Ād or an ancestor whose name prevailed over the tribe. Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī al-Ḥasan read: 'with 'Ād Irām' without declining 'Ād' and adding it to 'Irām'. This suggests that 'Irām' is a father or an ancestor, and that it could be a city. Al-Dahhak read: 'with 'Ād Arām' with the dal opened and the hamzah from 'Arām' opened, and the ra and mim opened, without declining 'Ād' and with the addition. Ibn 'Abbas and al-Dahhak read: 'with 'Ād Irām' with the mim doubled in the past tense meaning: it decayed and became rotten. It is said: the bone decayed, and it was decayed, and Allah made it decayed. The verb 'ramma' is transitive with the hamzah. Ibn 'Abbas also read: 'Armi dhāt' with the ta in the accusative, in the context of being decayed upon it, meaning: your Lord made it worn out and turned it into decay. Ibn al-Zubayr read: 'Armi' with the hamzah opened and the ra broken, and this is a dialect for the city. Al-Dahhak ibn Muzāḥim read: 'Armi' with the ra in sukoon and the hamzah opened, and this is a lightening in 'Arām' like 'fakhḍah' and 'fakhdh'.

People disagreed about His saying, the Exalted: 'of the pillars'. Whoever said 'Irām is a city' said: the pillars are the stone pillars with which it was built. It is said that the high palaces and towers are called pillars. Whoever said 'Irām is a tribe' said: the pillars are either the pillars of their buildings or the pillars of their houses which they travel with; because they were people of pillars who sought the lands, as said by Muqatil and a group. Ibn 'Abbas said: It is a metaphor for the height of their bodies.

The majority read: 'was not created' with the ya in the nominative and the lam opened 'like it' in the nominative. Ibn al-Zubayr read: 'was not created' with the ya opened and the lam in the nominative 'and like it' in the accusative. Abu 'Amr al-Dani mentioned that he read: 'we did not create' with the nun and the lam opened 'like it' in the accusative. He mentioned what was before this from 'Ikrimah. The pronoun in 'like it' refers either to the city or to the tribe.

Yahya ibn Wathab read "and Thamud" with the tanween on the dal. And "they carved the rock" means: they broke it and shaped it. They were in their valley, having carved their houses in stone. And "the valley" is what is between the two mountains, even if there is no water in it. This is the saying of many of the commentators regarding "they carved the rock in the valley." Al-Thalabi said: he means: in the Valley of Al-Qura. And some said: the meaning is: they carved their valley and brought their water in a rock they split. This is the action of those with strength and ambitions. Ibn Kathir read: "in the valley" with the ya. Most of the seven reciters read: "in the valley" without the ya. Nafi' differed in that, and this has been mentioned before.

And "Fir'aun" is the Fir'aun of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him. People have differed about his stakes. It was said that they are his high, great buildings, as said by Muhammad ibn Ka'b. It was said: his soldiers by whom his kingdom is established. It was said that the intended stakes are the stakes of his tents, mentioned for their abundance and their indication of his raids and movements in the lands, as said by Ibn Abbas. From him is the saying of Al-Aswad ibn Ya'fur:

In the shade of a kingdom with stable stakes.

And Qatadah said: he had stakes on which men would play before him while he was overseeing them. And Mujahid said: he would stake people with iron stakes, killing them with that, driving them into their bodies until they penetrated to the ground. It was said that this was done to his wife Asiya. And it was said: he did this to the hairdresser of his daughter because she had believed in Musa, blessings and peace be upon him.

And "the tyranny" is exceeding the limits. And "the whip" is used in beating because it requires speed in descending. From this is the saying of the poet regarding those who are punished for slander:

So it was poured upon them a punishment like that of rain, which is not from clouds nor drops.

And from that is the saying of the later poet regarding the description of horses:

We poured upon them, the oppressors, our whips, so they fled with hands swift and legs.

And "the whip" is specifically borrowed for punishment because it requires repetition and recurrence that the sword or anything else does not require. Some linguists said: the whip here is a source from "saata yasootu," as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: a mixture of punishment.

And "the mirsad" and "the marsad" is the place of observation, as said by the linguists, meaning that it is at the tongue of every speaker, and an observation for every doer. And on this interpretation in the mirsad is the response of Amir ibn Qais to Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, when he said to him: Where is your Lord, O Bedouin? He said: at the mirsad. It is possible that "the mirsad" in the verse is the name of a doer, as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: at the observer, thus expressing with a form of exaggeration. It has been narrated in some hadith: "Indeed, on the bridge of Hell, there are three scales. On one of them is trust, on the other is blood, and on the last is the Lord, glorified and exalted is He. So that is His saying: "Indeed, your Lord is at the mirsad."