بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
إِنّا أَنزَلناهُ في لَيلَةِ القَدرِ
Indeed We sent it down on the Night of Qadr.
EXEGESIS
The term anzalnā which occurs in this verse is the first person, plural, perfect tense verb of the fourth form of Arabic verbal forms for the root letters n-z-l. It means: to bring down, to cause to come down, to make fall, to send down or to dispatch, to bestow upon, and to reveal.[su_tooltip content=”Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 930.”][1][/su_tooltip] It is also suggested to mean: to send down something at once or altogether rather than in instalments or in succession,[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/330; Razi, 5/254.”][2][/su_tooltip] however, the fourth form for these root letters has a wider scope in meaning to include both gradual descent and a descent that is altogether and at once.[su_tooltip content=”Amthal, 20/342-343, citing Raghib.”][3][/su_tooltip] The root letters n-z-l are described to essentially mean: the descent or fall of a thing from above, or on high to below or to the bottom, irrespective of whether the thing involved is material and corporeal or immaterial and incorporeal. This of course means that the thing subject to descent was situated at an elevated point or position,[su_tooltip content=”Tahqiq, 12/87.”][4][/su_tooltip] either materially or immaterially.
The term qadr can mean the quantity and measure of a thing,[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/331.”][5][/su_tooltip] such as in 13:17, 54:49, and 65:3, and therefore this term has been defined to mean the state of a thing being equal to another without excess or deficiency.[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/385; Razi, 32/229.”][6][/su_tooltip] Consequently, Night of Qadr in this surah can mean the night of measurement, for God measures out during it whatever He wishes of things such as sustenance and lifespans. He does this in light of His wisdom for the forthcoming year,[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/331; Razi, 32/229; Zamakhshari, 4/780.”][7][/su_tooltip] in the sense of making manifest His decrees and judgements to the angels.[su_tooltip content=”Razi, 32/229.”][8][/su_tooltip] This meaning for laylat al-qadr is corroborated by 44:3-4, which tend to be invoked in the Quran commentary literature to explain the term laylat al-qadr. 44:4 contains the passive, imperfect tense verb yufraqu in relation to every definitive matter (amrin ḥakīm). This verb means: to be made distinct, to be decided, to be decreed.[su_tooltip content=”Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 704.”][9][/su_tooltip] This means that affairs or decrees are measured out and stipulated along with their specifications (44:4), and this happens during a blessed night (44:3). This phenomenon is corroborated by hadiths from the Prophet and Imams which state that people’s lives, sustenance, and other issues are determined and measured during this night, in addition to which the descent of the Quran was decreed during this night.[su_tooltip content=” Mizan, 20/331.”][10][/su_tooltip] Furthermore, the Quran is explicit that the universe runs according to a measure and decree (13:8, 15:21, 23:18, 55:5). Hence, the revelation or descent or determination of various measures for various things for the forthcoming year during this night is a reasonable interpretation. Several additional terms, all conveying the sense of specific measurement, are also used to translate the term qadr, such as decree, providence, predestination, preordainment, fate, determination, destiny, computation, stipulation, and apportionment.
The term qadr can also mean honour, esteem, prestige, magnificence, dignity, status, and great significance.[su_tooltip content=” Razi, 32/229; Zamakhshari, 4/780.”][11][/su_tooltip] Such a meaning for this term comes across in 6:91, 22:74, and 39:67,[su_tooltip content=” Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 30/521.”][12][/su_tooltip] just as it comes across when verse 1 of this surah is paired with 44:3,[su_tooltip content=” Kashif, 7/594.”][13][/su_tooltip] and also when it is read in light of verses 3-5 of this surah, in which case Night of Qadr can mean the night of honour, esteem, and great significance. Such a meaning for this night therefore comes across from within this surah which mentions the revelation of the Quran in this night, the descent of the angels and the Spirit in it, it being suffused with peace and blessings till dawn, and the measuring out of matters in it; all of which are truly significant and magnificent occurrences. This is while the transmitted reports mention the significant and prestigious reward available for those who keep awake in it for devotions.[su_tooltip content=” Mizan, 20/331.”][14][/su_tooltip]
The term qadr can also mean power, capability, and strength such as in 22:6, 23:95, 43:42, and 90:5.
Finally, it is also suggested that the term means restriction,[su_tooltip content=” Razi, 32/229.”][15][/su_tooltip] since during this night the angels descend in great numbers which results in the earth becoming straitened and narrow.[su_tooltip content=” Mizan, 20/331.”][16][/su_tooltip] The term qadr has been used in this sense in 65:7 and 89:16.
All these meanings for the term qadr are valid and can be taken together in respect of this surah for they are mutually inclusive as far as this surah is concerned. Furthermore, they enrich the meaning of this verse just as they denote the wide scope in meaning of this term;[su_tooltip content=” Amthal, 20/346-347.”][17][/su_tooltip] however, the first meaning is said to be the best.[su_tooltip content=” Amthal, 20/346-347.”][18][/su_tooltip] Hence, since the term qadr is polysemous – where all of its different meanings resonate with this surah – the term qadr has been left untranslated throughout the commentary of this surah.
EXPOSITION
This verse says that something was sent down during the Night of Qadr, and it leaves the identity of the thing sent down unclear, since the thing sent down is only referred to by the third person, singular pronominal suffix hu (it) attached to the verb anzalnā (we sent). However, exegetes write that this pronominal suffix undoubtedly refers to the Quran,[su_tooltip content=” Tibyan, 10/384; Zamakhshari, 4/779; Mizan, 20/330.”][19][/su_tooltip] and that is because there is a similar verse which helps clarify the meaning of this verse and the identity of the referent of the pronominal suffix.[su_tooltip content=” Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 2/130.”][20][/su_tooltip] In that verse, 44:2, God swears By the manifest book (al-kitāb al-mubīn). This is understood to refer to the Quran, and is therefore the subject of the oath.[su_tooltip content=” Tibyan, 9/93.”][21][/su_tooltip] Thereafter, in 44:3, there follows the predicate of the oath, i.e. the thing or purpose for which the oath was taken. 44:3 says: Indeed We sent it down on a blessed night (innā anzalnāhu fī laylah mubārakah), and indeed We have been warning [mankind].[su_tooltip content=” Tibyan, 9/93.”][22][/su_tooltip] The first part of this verse, as can be seen, closely resembles the verse under discussion. It in 44:3 is understood to refer to the manifest book sworn by in 44:2, and consequently when these verses (44:2-3 and 97:1) are put together, they help clarify that the Night of Qadr and the blessed night (laylah mubārakah) are one and the same, and that the two verses are referring to the same thing sent down, which is the Quran. Finally, if 2:185, which identifies the month in which the Quran was revealed, is brought to bear on 44:2-3 and 97:1, it becomes clear that the Quran, which was revealed in a blessed night, which is the Night of Qadr, occurs in the auspicious month of Ramadan.[su_tooltip content=” Mizan, 20/330.”][23][/su_tooltip] This conclusion as well as the process by which it is arrived at, is amply reflected in the transmitted reports of Prophet Muhammad (s), the Imams from his progeny, and his companions, and it could be argued that this conclusion, by means of the verses cited, was inspired by these traditions. Some examples of these traditions are cited under Insights from Hadith.
This surah and the Quran in general are silent regarding the exact identity of the Night of Qadr in the month of Ramadan, but the matter is discussed extensively in the transmitted reports from Prophet Muhammad (s), the Imams from his progeny, and his companions, and these are cited in the relevant sections. Hence, this surah merely clarifies the value of this night but not its exact identity in the month of Ramadan.
One may wonder why the thing sent down was merely alluded to in this verse rather than mentioned explicitly. In response, it is suggested that the reason lies in the desire to express its importance, greatness, and exaltedness,[su_tooltip content=” Zamakhshari, 4/779.”][24][/su_tooltip] and that the allusive manner of referring to the Quran in this verse testifies that this verse’s meaning at the moment of its revelation was manifestly clear to its initial audience, since the Quran was present in their minds and well known, thereby negating the need to mention it explicitly.[su_tooltip content=” Tibyan, 10/384.”][25][/su_tooltip]
God has manifested the significance and greatness of the Quran in this verse in three ways.[su_tooltip content=” Zamakhshari, 4/779.”][26][/su_tooltip] Firstly, He associated its revelation to Himself and none other,[su_tooltip content=” Zamakhshari, 4/779.”][27][/su_tooltip] further using the majestic first person, plural verb anzalnā (we sent down), and preceding this verb by the plural emphatic particle innā (indeed we).[su_tooltip content=” Amthal, 20/342.”][28][/su_tooltip] If the phrase innā anzalnāhu is translated literally, the emphasis is clear: Indeed We, We sent it down. However, it is also suggested that the plural verb anzalnā may be due to the fact that God executes the affairs of the universe by means of angels as intermediaries, and hence it is observed that many verbs and pronouns associated with God in the Quran occur in the plural mode, such as in this verse.[su_tooltip content=” Qaraati, 10/516.”][29][/su_tooltip] Secondly, God mentioned the Quran by means of a pronoun rather than explicitly naming it, thereby testifying to its fame.[su_tooltip content=” Tabrisi.J, 4/518.”][30][/su_tooltip] And thirdly, God has indicated the significance of the Quran by bringing to prominence the point in time during which it was revealed: the Night of Qadr.[su_tooltip content=” Tabrisi.J, 4/518.”][31][/su_tooltip]
It is established that the Night of Qadr was decreed by God to be blessed even before the revelation of the Quran in it and that it existed before the descent of the Quran in it,[su_tooltip content=” Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.”][32][/su_tooltip] and this was so that the Quran would be revealed in a blessed time, and consequently the night would increase in its blessedness.[su_tooltip content=” Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.”][33][/su_tooltip] This is because the Night of Qadr is the point in time or the time-based receptacle into which the Quran was revealed. Thus the merit of the night existed before the Quran’s revelation,[su_tooltip content=” Shahr Allāh fī al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah, p. 438.”][34][/su_tooltip] while Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘God, may His remembrance be glorified, created the Night of Qadr at the very inception of creating the world … and He decreed that every year there should be a night in which [the angels] should descend with the details of the decrees that are to happen in the forthcoming year.’[su_tooltip content=” Nur, 5/623.”][35][/su_tooltip]
The Quran describes this night as blessed in 44:3, implying that it is blessed in and of itself, and perhaps the descent of the Quran in this night was because it was a divine matter (amr) with which the angels descended, for there cannot be a matter greater in divinity and wisdom than the Quran which is light and guidance for mankind.[su_tooltip content=” Fadlallah, 24/351.”][36][/su_tooltip] This is while the reason it was rendered blessed, quite apart from the subsequent descent of the Quran in it, was because it is the night during which fates and destinies, as well as lifespans and sustenance, are determined,[su_tooltip content=”Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.”][37][/su_tooltip] which is yet another reason why it existed long before the descent of the Quran. This is because God’s modus operandi in relation to the governance of the cosmos does not change (35:43).[su_tooltip content=”Shahr Allāh fī al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah, p. 438.”][38][/su_tooltip]
The descent of the Quran during the Night of Qadr, which this verse conveys, refers to its instantaneous revelation in an undetailed mode from the protected tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ) to the angelic realm in the inhabited house (al-bayt al-maʿmūr). Fayḍ Kāshānī explains that this revelation also corresponds to its sudden revelation to the heart of the Prophet in the same undetailed mode as 26:193-194 describes: Brought down by the trustworthy spirit upon your heart.[su_tooltip content=”Nur, 5/623.”][39][/su_tooltip]
It may also refer, as some commentators have argued,[su_tooltip content=”Introduction to the Sciences of the Quran, 1/73, 75, 77, 79.”][40][/su_tooltip] to the inception of its revelation. According to this view, although the Prophet was appointed to the office of messengership on 27 Rajab, nevertheless, the inception of the Quranic revelation occurred in Ramadan during the Night of Qadr, which was with the revelation of the initial verses of chapter 96. Thereafter, the Quranic revelations continued in a gradual, piecemeal fashion for about twenty-three years as 17:106 and 25:32 explicitly state.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
The following reports demonstrate the identification of the Night of Qadr with the month of Ramadan, and that the Night of Qadr is the same as the blessed night mentioned in 44:3. The reports further clarify that the Night of Qadr is the night during which the Quran was sent down, and that it is the night when things are measured out and decreed for the forthcoming year.
- The Messenger of God said: ‘Search for the Night of Qadr in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan.’[su_tooltip content=”Bukhari, 2/710, h. 1916; Muslim, 2/828, h. 219.”][41][/su_tooltip] The same details are narrated from the Prophet by Imam Ali (a),[su_tooltip content=”Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 1/282.”][42][/su_tooltip] while ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit relates that the Messenger of God informed them of the Night of Qadr, saying explicitly: ‘It is in the month of Ramadan, so search for it in the last ten days [of the month].’[su_tooltip content=”Ahmad, 8/414, h. 22827.”][43][/su_tooltip]
- Abū Hurayrah reports that when the month of Ramadan arrived, the Messenger of God said: ‘The month of Ramadan has come to you; a month that is blessed. God has ordained on you its fast. The doors of paradise are opened in it, the doors of hell are closed in it, while the Satans are fettered in it. In it there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of its goodness has surely been deprived.’[su_tooltip content=”Ibn Kathir, 8/427.”][44][/su_tooltip]
- Imam Ali (a) counselled: ‘Beseech God the opportunity for hajj on the seventeenth, nineteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-third nights of the month of Ramadan. This is because the group that is to travel to Mecca for the pilgrimage is decreed (yuktabu) every year on the Night of Qadr, and in it, just as God has said, Every definitive matter is decreed in it [44:4].’[su_tooltip content=”Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 1/281.”][45][/su_tooltip]
- Ḥumrān relates that he asked Imam al-Bāqir (a) about Indeed We sent it down on a blessed night (44:3). The Imam replied: ‘Yes, it is the Night of Qadr. It occurs every year in the month of Ramadan, during the last ten days of it. The Quran was not sent down save in the Night of Qadr. God says: Every definitive matter is decreed in it [44:4]. [This means] everything that is to happen in that year to the next is measured out (yuqaddaru) in the Night of Qadr, from goodness and evil, obedience and disobedience, birth, death, and sustenance. Thus, whatever is measured out (quddira) and finalised (quḍiya) in that night is inevitable (maḥtūm), however God has volition (mashiyyah) in respect of it.’[su_tooltip content=”Kafi, 4/157, h. 6; Faqih, 2/158, h. 2024.”][46][/su_tooltip]
- Samāʿah says that the Imam said (in the context of specifying the Night of Qadr and the devotions to be made in it): ‘[The Night of Qadr] is in the month of Ramadan, Every definitive matter is decreed in it [44:4].’ I asked: ‘How is that?’ He replied: ‘[By the measuring out of] what is to happen during the year. In it the group [of people] which is to travel to Mecca [for pilgrimage] is decreed (yuktabu).’[su_tooltip content=”Tahdhib, 3/58, h. 199.”][47][/su_tooltip]
- Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘The Night of Qadr is the heart of the month of Ramadan.’[su_tooltip content=”Kafi, 4/66, h. 1; Faqih, 2/99, h. 1843.”][48][/su_tooltip]
- Al-Masmaʿī relates that he heard Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) command his children when the month of Ramadan arrived, saying: ‘Exert yourselves [in devotion], for in it [the month of Ramadan] sustenance is distributed (tuqsamu) and lifespans are decreed (tuktabu). In it the group of God that is to visit Him [for pilgrimage] is decreed (yuktabu), and in it is a night, deeds done during which are better than deeds done in a thousand months.’[su_tooltip content=”Kafi, 4/66, h. 2; Tahdhib, 4/192, h. 547.”][49][/su_tooltip]
- Imam al-Riḍā (a) said: ‘The month of Ramadan is the month in which is the Night of Qadr, which is better than a thousand months. Every definitive matter is decreed in it [44:4]. It [the night] is the beginning of the year. In it, what is to happen during the year of goodness or evil, loss or benefit, life or death, is measured out and decreed (yuqaddaru). It is named the Night of Qadr for that reason.’[su_tooltip content=”Uyun, 2/116, h. 1; Ilal, p. 270, h. 9.”][50][/su_tooltip]
- Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) relates: ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn (a) would recite Indeed We sent it down on the Night of Qadr [and say]: “God has said the truth, God sent down the Quran on the Night of Qadr.”’[su_tooltip content=”Kafi, 1/248, h. 4.”][51][/su_tooltip]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
A study of Quran commentaries relevant to this surah demonstrates that there are three distinct interpretations for this verse (as well as 44:2-3 and 2:185). The first interpretation for what the verse means when it states that the Quran was sent down on the Night of Qadr, is as mentioned in the previous section, which is that it refers to the inception of Quranic revelations during this illustrious night by the descent of the initial verses of chapter 96 after which the revelations continued in piecemeal fashion (17:106) and (25:32) up until the Prophet’s death.[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/384.”][52][/su_tooltip] This interpretation was favoured by a number of important past scholars such as Ibn Isḥāq,[su_tooltip content=”Tabrisi, 2/276, cited in Tamhid, 1/112.”][53][/su_tooltip] al-Shaʿbī, ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl,[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/384; Tabari, 30/166.”][54][/su_tooltip] Mufīd,[su_tooltip content=”Tamhid, 1/114.”][55][/su_tooltip] Zamakhsharī,[su_tooltip content=”Zamakhshari, 1/227, cited in Tamhid, 1/113.”][56][/su_tooltip] and Ibn Shahrāshūb,[su_tooltip content=”Manāqib, 1/150, cited in Tamhid, 1/113.”][57][/su_tooltip] and from among the modern scholars Mughniyyah, Maʿrifat,[su_tooltip content=”Introduction to the Sciences of the Quran, 1/73, 75, 77, 79.”][58][/su_tooltip] Faḍl-Allāh,[su_tooltip content=”Fadlallah, 4/28.”][59][/su_tooltip] and ʿIzzat Darwāzah,[su_tooltip content=”Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 2/130, 132-133.”][60][/su_tooltip] among, probably, others too. Such a piecemeal and gradual form of revelation had the practical benefit of allowing for a gradual transition for the first Muslim community from a theologically, spiritually, and practically poorer state to a better and richer one, as well as allowing the first Muslims to get acquainted with the Quran’s teachings in small, easily digestible forms in addition to keeping them in constant cohttps://theoceanofthequran.org/mmunication with God.
A second interpretation for this verse (as well as 44:2-3 and 2:185) is that it refers to an instantaneous, complete descent of the Quran on this night,[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 10/381.”][61][/su_tooltip] while what 17:106 and 25:32 speak of (which is a piecemeal descent of the Quran) is a reference to a second type of revelation. Hence there were two types of descents for the Quran: a complete one on the Night of Qadr and a piecemeal one that extended to slightly more than two decades.[su_tooltip content=”Tibyan, 9/224.”][62][/su_tooltip] As to the question of the nature of the Quran which descended to the Prophet all at once on the Night of Qadr, the exact details of this phenomenon are unknown in an accurate way.[su_tooltip content=”Amthal, 16/121.”][63][/su_tooltip]
The third interpretation, which appears to be a modified version of the second, maintains that this verse (and 44:2-3 and 2:185) refers to the instant and complete descent of a portion of the Quran every year during the Night of Qadr from the protected tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ) to the angelic scribes in the lower heaven (samāʾ al-dunyā); the same portion that would be revealed in piecemeal fashion by Gabriel during the ensuing year;[su_tooltip content=”Tafsīr Muqātil, 4/771; Tibyan, 9/224.”][64][/su_tooltip] or that the entirety of the Quran was revealed from the protected tablet to the angelic scribes in the lower heaven on this night, and thereafter over twenty years Gabriel would obtain the portion for the requisite year during this night and convey it to the Prophet throughout that year.[su_tooltip content=”Tafsīr Muqātil, 3/817.”][65][/su_tooltip]
[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 930.
[2] Mizan, 20/330; Razi, 5/254.
[3] Amthal, 20/342-343, citing Raghib.
[4] Tahqiq, 12/87.
[5] Mizan, 20/331.
[6] Tibyan, 10/385; Razi, 32/229.
[7] Mizan, 20/331; Razi, 32/229; Zamakhshari, 4/780.
[8] Razi, 32/229.
[9] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 704.
[10] Mizan, 20/331.
[11] Razi, 32/229; Zamakhshari, 4/780.
[12] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 30/521.
[13] Kashif, 7/594.
[14] Mizan, 20/331.
[15] Razi, 32/229.
[16] Mizan, 20/331.
[17] Amthal, 20/346-347.
[18] Amthal, 20/346-347.
[19] Tibyan, 10/384; Zamakhshari, 4/779; Mizan, 20/330.
[20] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 2/130.
[21] Tibyan, 9/93.
[22] Tibyan, 9/93.
[23] Mizan, 20/330.
[24] Zamakhshari, 4/779.
[25] Tibyan, 10/384.
[26] Zamakhshari, 4/779.
[27] Zamakhshari, 4/779.
[28] Amthal, 20/342.
[29] Qaraati, 10/516.
[30] Tabrisi.J, 4/518.
[31] Tabrisi.J, 4/518.
[32] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.
[33] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.
[34] Shahr Allāh fī al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah, p. 438.
[35] Nur, 5/623.
[36] Fadlallah, 24/351.
[37] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn, 25/267-268.
[38] Shahr Allāh fī al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah, p. 438.
[39] Safi, 1/65.
[40] Introduction to the Sciences of the Quran, 1/73, 75, 77, 79.
[41] Bukhari, 2/710, h. 1916; Muslim, 2/828, h. 219.
[42] Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 1/282.
[43] Ahmad, 8/414, h. 22827.
[44] Ibn Kathir, 8/427.
[45] Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 1/281.
[46] Kafi, 4/157, h. 6; Faqih, 2/158, h. 2024.
[47] Tahdhib, 3/58, h. 199.
[48] Kafi, 4/66, h. 1; Faqih, 2/99, h. 1843.
[49] Kafi, 4/66, h. 2; Tahdhib, 4/192, h. 547.
[50] Uyun, 2/116, h. 1; Ilal, p. 270, h. 9.
[51] Kafi, 1/248, h. 4.
[52] Tibyan, 10/384.
[53] Tabrisi, 2/276, cited in Tamhid, 1/112.
[54] Tibyan, 10/384; Tabari, 30/166.
[55] Tamhid, 1/114.
[56] Zamakhshari, 1/227, cited in Tamhid, 1/113.
[57] Manāqib, 1/150, cited in Tamhid, 1/113.
[58] Introduction to the Sciences of the Quran, 1/73, 75, 77, 79.
[59] Fadlallah, 4/28.
[60] Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth, 2/130, 132-133.
[61] Tibyan, 10/381.
[62] Tibyan, 9/224.
[63] Amthal, 16/121.
[64] Tafsīr Muqātil, 4/771; Tibyan, 9/224.
[65] Tafsīr Muqātil, 3/817.