Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:130

"And exalt [Him] with the praise of your Lord" (i.e., pray while you are praising your Lord, the Almighty and Majestic, who brings you to your perfection through His guidance and His decree, Glory be to Him.)

"Before the rising of the sun" (i.e., the dawn prayer.)

"And before its setting" (i.e., the sunset prayer. The apparent meaning is that the adverbial phrase is linked to "exalt.")

The interpretation of "exaltation" at these two times has been transmitted as mentioned by Al-Tabarani, Ibn Asakir, and Ibn Marduyah from Jarir, attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Al-Hakim recorded from Fadaalah bin Wahb al-Laythi that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Maintain the two 'Asrs." I asked, "What are the two 'Asrs?" He replied, "A prayer before the rising of the sun and [a prayer] before its setting."

It has been said that the intended meaning of "exaltation before its setting" is the Dhuhr (noon) and 'Asr (afternoon) prayers, because the time for each of them is before the sunset and after the sun passes its zenith. They were grouped together for the sake of correspondence with His saying, "before the rising of the sun." You know that although "before the setting" is linguistically true for the time of Dhuhr and the time of 'Asr, its usage is most common for the time of 'Asr.

"And from parts of the night" (i.e., from its hours.) "Ana" is the plural of "ina," "anw" (with kasra on the hamza and waw), "ana" (with kasra and qasr), and "ina" (with fatha and madd). The last one is not as famous as the first three, though it was mentioned by reliable commentators. Al-Raghib said in his Mufradat: God Almighty said, "not watching for its anah" (i.e., its time). When anah begins with a kasra, it is abbreviated (qasr), and when it begins with a fatha, it is lengthened (madd), like the saying of Al-Hutay'ah: "I delayed the dinner until Suhayl or Sirius appeared, so the ina' (time) became long for me." Then he said: "It is said, 'I delayed (anaitu) the thing,' meaning I deferred it from its time; and 'anaitu' means I was delayed." In Al-Misbah: "Anaitu" (with fatha and madd) means I deferred it, and the noun is ina' (weighing salam).

It is said that it is in the accusative case as an adverb linked to an implied verb, and His saying, "And exalt [Him]" is a conjunction to it, meaning: "Rise in some parts of the night and exalt [Him]." This is as you see it. It is also said: it is in the accusative linked to "exalt" in the sequence of "And Me, so fear Me," and the fa (in fasebbih) is either conjunctive or explanatory. It is also said that it is governed by "exalt" and the fa is extra, its benefit being to indicate the necessity of what follows it for what preceded it. Al-Khafaji mentioned that it is governed by what was mentioned without the need to claim the extra status of the fa, for it does not prevent what follows it from operating on what precedes it, as the grammarians have stated.

The intent of exaltation in some parts of the night is the Maghrib and Isha prayers. Due to the importance of these two, He did not suffice with the order to perform them through the previous verb by joining "from parts of the night" to one of the two previous adverbial phrases without mentioning "so exalt [Him]." Because of the concern for the parts of the night and their distinction over all other times with specific and general matters, their mention was brought forward before the command, and they were not treated in the same manner as what preceded them.

"And the ends of the day" This is a conjunction to the position of His saying, "from parts of the night," and it is said: to His saying, "before the rising." The intent of exaltation at the ends of the day, according to what Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and others narrated from Qatadah, is the Dhuhr prayer. Al-Jubba'i preferred this view. The justification for calling the Dhuhr time an "end" (taraf) is that it is the end of the first half of the day and the beginning of the latter half. It is pluralized because of the two halves, or because the definition of "the day" is for the genus, which includes every day, so the plural is because of the plurality of days, and that each has an end. This is what was said, though it has been objected that the beginning and end in it are not on the same standard, because it is an "end" in the sense that the first half concludes at it (and it is outside of it) and a "beginning" in the sense that the second half starts from it (and it is inside it). There is no doubt about the remoteness of the plural based on such a consideration. Furthermore, one must hold that the minimum plural is two, and to apply "end" to the end of one of its halves is a forced interpretation, for it is not an end for it, but for its half.

It is said: This is a repetition of the morning and evening prayers to signal that they possess an added excellence. "The day" means what is between sunrise and sunset, and "the end" means what is adjacent to the beginning or the end of a thing. Both verses are in the plural form even though the intended meaning is two, and there is no confusion because the day only has two ends. An example is the saying of Al-Ajjaj: "And two barren, pathless plains... their backs are like the backs of two shields." The preference is for assimilation with the "parts of the night."

This view was chosen by those who included Dhuhr within "before the sunset," though the objection remains that an "end" is truthfully what terminates a thing and is part of it, and it is applied to its beginning and its end; its application to the aforementioned adjacent time is not literal. The response is that it is permissible and common even if not literal. It is permissible that it is a repetition of the morning and 'Asr prayers, and "the day" means what is between dawn and sunset, with the "ends" being the first and the last according to convention. If "the day" means what is between sunrise and sunset, this possibility becomes distant, as the two ends would not be on the same standard. It is also said: it is a command for voluntary prayer in the final hours of the day, but this diverts the command from its apparent meaning, and there is a debate—not hidden from the jurist—regarding whether the final hours of the day are a time for voluntary prayer.

Abu Hayyan said: The apparent meaning is that His saying, "And exalt [Him] with the praise of your Lord" is a command for exaltation coupled with praise. In that case, it either means the verbal expression, i.e., say "Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi" (Glory be to Allah and with His praise), or it means the conceptual meaning, i.e., "Exalt Him from evil and praise Him with beautiful attributes."

In a report mentioned by Ibn Atiyyah: "Whoever exalts [God] at sunset seventy times, his sins will set." Abu Muslim said: It is not far-fetched to interpret this as transcendence and glorification; the meaning is: "Be occupied with the transcendence of Allah Almighty at these times." Al-Izz bin Abd al-Salam also interpreted it in this way, and he considered the ba in His saying, "with the praise of your Lord" to be for instrumentality, saying: "This is to determine the negation of deficiency attributes, for whoever negates something has proven its opposite, and the opposites of deficiency attributes are the attributes of perfection. Thus, whoever declares Him transcendent has established the attributes of perfection." He allowed for the genitive construction of "praise" to "the Lord" to be either the addition of the infinitive to the agent, the addition of the infinitive to the object, or the addition of attribution (i.e., praise meaning praises). He favored the first, because the true, complete praise is Allah Almighty’s praise of Himself. The most apparent meaning is that the ba is for concomitance, and the construction is the addition of the infinitive to the object.

The Imam chose to interpret exaltation as transcendence from polytheism, saying: "It is closer to the apparent meaning and to what was mentioned before, as He first commanded him to be patient over what they say of denial, showing disbelief and polytheism, and what is appropriate to that is to be commanded to declare His transcendence from their speech, so that he may be a manifestor of that and a caller to it." This was objected to on the grounds that there is no basis then for specifying these times. The answer given is that the intent of mentioning them is to indicate continuity, as in His saying, "In the morning and the evening," even though some times have an excellence for a reason known only to Allah. This was refuted by saying that the partitive "min" in His saying, "from parts of the night," rejects it. Moreover, such a meaning would be sufficiently conveyed by saying "before sunrise and after it," as that covers both night and day; thus, the increase indicates that the intent is the specificity of the time. It is not hidden that His saying, "from parts of the night" is linked to the second "exalt," so let the first be for generalization and the second for the specification of a part, as a gesture of care for it. Yes, it is an objection that there is no meaning to specifying transcendence from polytheism unless it means saying "Subhan Allah," intending thereby transcendence from polytheism. It is said: It is possible that the intent of exaltation is its apparent meaning, the intent of praise is prayer, and the adverb is linked to it, so its status of specification becomes apparent, as in the Shahabi notes.

The Imam's view was opposed on the grounds that what is most appropriate for the command to be patient is the command for prayer, so that it may be a guide to what is included in His saying, "And seek help through patience and prayer." Also, the subsequent command is more consistent with carrying the command of exaltation as a command for prayer, and you know that the traditions necessitate that. Furthermore, it is permissible that "end" (taraf) be intended as a portion of a thing, as it is one of its meanings, as in Al-Sihah and Al-Qamus. If the definition of the day is for the genus on this basis, the discussion regarding what was narrated from Qatadah does not remain as it was, so ponder this.

"That you might be satisfied" It is said: It is linked to "exalt," meaning: "Exalt [Him] at these times in the hope that you might attain from Him, the Almighty, what satisfies your soul in terms of reward." It was argued from this that there is no obligation upon Allah Almighty. It is also permissible for it to be linked to the command for patience and the command for prayer, and the meaning is: "That you might be satisfied in this world by the attainment of victory, the spreading of the call, and the like." Abu Haywah, Talhah, Al-Kisa'i, Abu Bakr, Aban, 'Ismah, Abu 'Amarah from Hafs, Abu Zayd from Al-Mufaddal, Abu 'Ubayd, and Muhammad bin 'Isa al-Asfahani recited it as "turda" (passive voice), meaning: "Your Lord will satisfy you."