إِنَّ سَعيَكُم لَشَتّىٰ

Your endeavours are indeed unlike.

EXEGESIS

The word saʿy means quick walking, but what is meant here is an action that is given importance or consideration.^{‎[1]Mizan, 20/302.}

The word shattā is the plural of shatīt, like marḍā as the plural of marīḍ, and it means distinct and dispersed.^{‎[2]Munyah, 30/397.} It has been used in this meaning in 20:53.

EXPOSITION

This verse, which is the subject of the oaths mentioned previously, can be considered a summary of the proceeding verses which act as an exposition of what is intended here.

In light of the oaths taken it would be as if God is saying: I swear by these phenomena, which differ in their creation and effects, that your actions are also different on their own and as well as their proceeding effects. From amongst those actions is giving charity, being God-wary, and confirming (verses 5-6), which have their own unique effects; and from among those actions is being stingy, self-complacent, and denying (verses 8-9), which also have their own unique effects.^{‎[3]Mizan, 20/302.} Endeavours are also unlike in the sense that some are worthy of paradise and others are worthy of hellfire.^{‎[4]Tabrisi, 10/759.}

Man can proceed through two different paths and adopt two distinct personalities. In contrast to man, other beings such as angels, animals, plants, and inanimate objects are created in a manner that they do not have alternative paths. They each only have one route that they can traverse. Consider a tree, for example. There is not a single tree that has an option other than to develop from a seed, grow into a tree, bear fruit, and then dry up. All these beings act based on how they are innately programmed, such as how Allah describes the bees in 16:68-69.

Man has been blessed with various faculties and instincts that each pull him towards their own direction, and it is up to him which path he wants to traverse. For example, he is instinctively pulled towards the goodness of justice and yet he also has the desire to accumulate wealth even if through oppression (3:14). As such, this verse is indicating that people operate differently, in that through their free will and volition, they choose to traverse different paths.^{‎[5]Munyah, 30/401-402.}

Based on this understanding, one way of understanding how the subject of the oath in this chapter is related to the objects is by recognising that perhaps the reason why the night was sworn by is because that is similar to the life of an arrogant person who is engulfed in his desires, whilst the swearing by the day is an indication of the transcendence in behaviour and adoption of superior values.^{‎[6]Munyah, 30/402.}

One might wonder what the need would be to take several oaths for a matter that seems quite obvious, in that there are different types of actions, some are virtuous and some are evil. In response, it has been suggested that while it is obvious that actions differ in their moral worth, perhaps the emphasis is on the fact that differing actions also differ in their proceeding effects and consequences such as ‘easing into facility’ (verse 7) and ‘easing into hardship’ (verse 10).^{‎[7]Kashif, 7/574.}

[1] Mizan, 20/302.
[2] Munyah, 30/397.
[3] Mizan, 20/302.
[4] Tabrisi, 10/759.
[5] Munyah, 30/401-402.
[6] Munyah, 30/402.
[7] Kashif, 7/574.