وَالصُّبحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ

By the dawn as it breathes.

EXEGESIS

The third person singular, present tense verb tanaffasa means to breathe out, to sigh gently, to show, or break through.^{‎[1]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 954.} It also means a prolonged expulsion of air from the stomach through the mouth and nose – to heave a deep sigh.^{‎[2]Tibyan, 10/286.}

EXPOSITION

The manner in which this verse portrays dawn is as if dawn were a living, breathing creature, which takes its first deep, gentle breath at the moment of daybreak, thereby causing life to once again flow and pervade in all living creatures after it had ceased at the beginning of the night. A similar description occurs in verse 74:34, which portrays night as if it were a black curtain which had draped itself over the face of the morning, refusing to leave until the curtain is unveiled, and then morning comes forth radiantly, ushering in new life.^{‎[3]Amthal, 19/462.}

Ṭabarī records a tradition from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān who said: ‘Ali (a) left after the caller to prayer had given the morning call [for prayers] and he recited: By the night as it retreats, by the dawn as it breathes.’^{‎[4]Tabari, 30/50.}

[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 954.
[2] Tibyan, 10/286.
[3] Amthal, 19/462.
[4] Tabari, 30/50.