وَاللَّيلِ إِذا سَجىٰ
By the night when it is calm.
EXEGESIS
Sajā means calmed down. The night when it is calm refers to the time when the night is its stillest and when it is covered with its darkness.
EXPOSITION
The choice of the subjects of the divine oaths in verses 1-2 calls our attention to two realities, namely the early morning hours and the night in its later hour when it is stillest. During the early morning hours of the day (al-ḍuḥā), we observe that the sun rises into the horizon such that it can be clearly and pristinely seen by all. Everything above the earth is at maximum, if not total, exposure to the sun. We also observe that people begin to openly and actively engage in their various routine activities with a renewed energy after the night’s rest. On the other hand, the night in its latest hours is characterised by stillness. The sun is nowhere to be seen. Everything is under the cover of the night’s darkness. The darkness is also in its stillest state, causing everything to be under its thickest cover. Most people are in deep sleep and mostly motionless. If there was any motion, most of it is hidden under the cover of darkness. Even those who normally take the night’s cover to commit mischief are now mostly exhausted. But not all people are motionless. There are those who embrace the cover of the night, to secretly call out to their beloved in prayer and supplication. Thus, elements that characterise the early morning hours are clarity, brightness, overt activity, and renewed energy. On the other hand, elements that characterise the later hours of the night when it is still, are tranquility, the cover of darkness, yearning, and intimacy.
Looking at the two times of the day in relation to one another, we observe a number of realities. First, we notice that they have opposite characteristics. Yet despite being diametrically opposed in their characteristics, night and day are of equal importance to all the human spheres (10:67). With these observations, we can see that it is as if the divine oath said: By these two hours of the night and day that I have made diametrically different, they equally serve My cause and My command. In addition, we see the double message being simultaneously communicated to the Messenger of God and his foes. It is as if the divine oath said: O Muhammad, by the apparent and by the unapparent, by the outward and the inward, by that which they see clearly and by that which they cannot perceive, all of these serve My cause, all of these are under My command, all of these plan against My enemies to bring victory to My associates and friends.
From another complimentary angle, consider the night in its stillest hour. By virtue of its stillness it would seem as though the night would be in eternal permanency. Yet, during the stillest hours of the night, the earth is in full motion; a fact verified by the Quran before modern science (27:88). The truth is that even during the night’s darkest hours the earth is set in angular motion around itself, racing silently and without being perceived, to bring the next spectacular appearance of the sun at the horizon, the next ḍuḥā. The divine oaths are calling our attention to these cosmological truths because they are a daily reenactment of how God makes truth prevail over falsehood. It is a permanent reminder to never fear the spread of power of those who corrupt the earth, for the seen and the unseen soldiers of God are fast at work, setting the stage for a new and greater ḍuḥā, where the light of truth shines above all without exception.
The choice of the morning brightness and the night when it is calm also informs that the realities that the divine oaths assert are cyclical in nature. In other words, the truths that this surah conveys about the way in which God supports His friends and defeats His foes has been repeated with past prophets and peoples (17:77, 40:51, 10:103, 23:44) and will continue to be true so long as there is night and day (9:33, 48:28, 61:9).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Shawkānī and Qurṭubī narrate from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) as well as from Qatādah and from Muqātil that they said: ‘God swore by the ḍuḥā, for it is the time when He spoke to Moses (a), and by the Night of Ascension (miʿrāj).’
Note: While the discussion in the Exposition addressed some of the more direct meanings of verses 1 and 2, this narration, if fully authentic, brings to light what may be subtle inferences to the story of Prophet Moses (a). Prophet Moses (a) occupies a considerable part of the Quran’s discourse because his story, message, and mission has marked similarities with the story of Islam and its Messenger. As for the inference to the Night of Ascension (miʿrāj), one connection with the theme of the surah is that it alludes to the unparalleled extent of the Prophet’s proximity to God in response to accusations or doubts that God has left His Messenger.
[1] Mizan, 20/310.
[2] Shawkani, 5/557; Qurtubi, 21/91.