Al-Fajr – Verse 2 – The Ocean of the Quran

وَلَيالٍ عَشرٍ

And by ten nights.

EXPOSITION

The second oath is by ten nights. The more well-known interpretation regarding the identity of these ten nights is that they refer to the first ten nights of the twelfth Muslim lunar month, Dhū al-Ḥijjah.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Qummi, 2/419; Razi, 31/149; Tustari, p. 282; Ibn Abbas, p. 752; Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/598; al-Balāgh fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, p. 593; Tabrisi.J, 6/485.”][1][/su_tooltip]} During these days, Muslims engage in the rite of pilgrimage, both minor and major pilgrimages; minor, in the first few days of this month and before the onset of the major pilgrimage, whilst the major pilgrimage is observed during the ninth and tenth days of the month.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Aqsām al-Qurʾān, pp. 148-149.”][2][/su_tooltip]} Ṭūsī, Ṭabarī, and Zamakhsharī, from among the well-known exegetes, preferred this identification for the ten nights,^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108; Zamakhshari, 4/746.”][3][/su_tooltip]} where Ṭabarī adds that this is his preferred opinion because of the near unanimity of the exegetes on this identification.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabari, 30/107-108.”][4][/su_tooltip]} Here, Ṭabarī transmits a prophetic tradition from Jābir, with his own chain, where Jābir reports the Prophet as reciting I swear by the daybreak, and by ten nights, and then explaining the latter verse by saying: ‘It is the ten [nights] of [the month of] Dhū al-Ḥijjah.’^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabari, 30/107-108.”][5][/su_tooltip]} Ṭūsī wrote that God has honoured these days as it is in these days that mankind hastens to good deeds and refrains from evil in obedience to God, seeking to esteem and exalt that which God has exalted, and belittling that which God has belittled.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/341.”][6][/su_tooltip]}

The ten nights have also been understood to refer to the first ten nights of the first Muslim lunar month of Muharram;^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Razi, 31/149; Tibyan, 10/341; Tabrisi, 10/736; Mizan, 20/279.”][7][/su_tooltip]} however, Ṭūsī has written that the first opinion is more reliable.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/341. Such a preference is also mentioned by Muhammad ibn Ḥabīb-Allāh al-Sabzawārī al-Najafī, the author of Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/598.”][8][/su_tooltip]}

Two more identifications for the ten nights have been suggested, which are that they refer to the first or last ten nights of the ninth Muslim lunar month of Ramadan, where the latter identification is emphasised due to the occurrence of the Night of Ordainment (laylat al-qadr) therein.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Razi, 31/149; Tabrisi, 10/736; Tabrisi.J, 6/485; Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/358.”][9][/su_tooltip]}

Nonetheless, the swearing by these ten nights indicates their unique and special significance in relation to the rest of the nights, and this is the purpose of the oaths. Thus it is suggested that the indefinite form in which the Arabic expression ten nights (layālin ʿashrin) occurs, indicates a reference to specific ten nights which enjoy an esteemed and exceptional status not shared by other nights.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabrisi.J, 6/485; Razi, 31/149; Shubbar, 1/557; Zamakhshari, 4/746.”][10][/su_tooltip]} The Damascene scholar Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah writes in his work devoted to explain the Quranic oaths that the mention of ten nights has occurred in the indefinite form to denote honour and greatness, for indefiniteness is used to denote greatness and honour^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Al-Tibyān fī Aqsām al-Qurʾān, p. 48.”][11][/su_tooltip]} (as well as contempt and scorn, but here it denotes honour and greatness). However, for those who do not find such an explanation compelling, the indefinite form of this verse can be understood in its general sense, and therefore as applying to all the different explanations we have suggested.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Amthal, 19/173.”][12][/su_tooltip]}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

Suyūṭī reports Jābir as reporting from the Prophet to have said that the ten nights are the first ten nights of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, while the odd refers to the Day of ʿArafah and the even refers to the day of sacrifice.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Suyuti, 6/345.”][13][/su_tooltip]}
Suyūṭī reports from Ibn ʿUmar who reported from the Prophet as saying: ‘There are no days more excellent as well as days in which deeds are more beloved to God than the ten days [of Dhū al-Ḥijjah], so increase therein the recitation of the glorification and praise of God and the recitation of the formula of unity.’^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Suyuti, 6/345.”][14][/su_tooltip]}
Suyūṭī reports from Abū Hurayrah from the Prophet, who said: ‘There are no days of the world in which deeds are more beloved to God in that He should be worshipped therein than the ten days [of Dhū al-Ḥijjah]. Fasting in these days equals fasting the whole year, while standing vigil during its nights equals the night vigils of the Night of Ordainment.’^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Suyuti, 6/345.”][15][/su_tooltip]}
Suyūṭī reports from Ibn Abbas as reporting from the Prophet to have said: ‘There are no days more excellent near God, or deeds done more beloved to God, the glorified and exalted, than these ten days. Therefore increase in the recitation of the glorification of God and the formula of unity, for these are the days of glorification and the [days for the] recitation of the formula of unity and the remembrance of God. Fasting on one day from these days equals fasting a whole year, while deeds done during them are multiplied 700 times.’^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Suyuti, 6/345.”][16][/su_tooltip]}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

In addition, these ten nights have also been suggested to refer to the ten additional nights which God added to the thirty nights for Prophet Moses (a), thereby completing it to forty nights,^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabrisi, 10/736.”][29][/su_tooltip]} this being a reference to 6:142, an opinion attributed to Mujāhid.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/358.”][30][/su_tooltip]}

[1] Qummi, 2/419; Razi, 31/149; Tustari, p. 282; Ibn Abbas, p. 752; Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/598; al-Balāgh fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, p. 593; Tabrisi.J, 6/485.
[2] Aqsām al-Qurʾān, pp. 148-149.
[3] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108; Zamakhshari, 4/746.
[4] Tabari, 30/107-108.
[5] Tabari, 30/107-108.
[6] Tibyan, 10/341.
[7] Razi, 31/149; Tibyan, 10/341; Tabrisi, 10/736; Mizan, 20/279.
[8] Tibyan, 10/341. Such a preference is also mentioned by Muhammad ibn Ḥabīb-Allāh al-Sabzawārī al-Najafī, the author of Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/598.
[9] Razi, 31/149; Tabrisi, 10/736; Tabrisi.J, 6/485; Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/358.
[10] Tabrisi.J, 6/485; Razi, 31/149; Shubbar, 1/557; Zamakhshari, 4/746.
[11] Al-Tibyān fī Aqsām al-Qurʾān, p. 48.
[12] Amthal, 19/173.
[13] Suyuti, 6/345.
[14] Suyuti, 6/345.
[15] Suyuti, 6/345.
[16] Suyuti, 6/345.
[17] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108.
[18] Tibyan, 10/341.
[19] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108.
[20] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108.
[21] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108.
[22] Tibyan, 10/341.
[23] Tabari, 30/107-108.
[24] Tabari, 30/107-108.
[25] Tibyan, 10/341; Tabari, 30/107-108.
[26] Tabrisi, 10/736.
[27] Muqatil, 4/687.
[28] Alusi, 15/334; Mizan, 20/279. In the latter work the attribution to Ibn Jurayj is not mentioned.
[29] Tabrisi, 10/736.
[30] Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/358.