And a sign for them is the night.

This is an exposition of His—Exalted is He—dazzling power in time, after having expounded it in space. "And a sign" is a predicate brought to the fore, and "the night" is the delayed subject. His saying—Exalted is He—"We strip from it the day" is an inauguration to explain its state of being a sign. There are other possibilities regarding the syntax, but what has been mentioned is most likely: that is, we uncover and remove the light from the location of the night and the place where it casts its shadow and darkness, which is the atmosphere. Thus, "the day" is an expression for light, either metaphorically or by the omission of a genitive (i.e., the light of the day).

His saying—Exalted is He—"from it" also involves the omission of a genitive; for "the day" and "the night" are expressions for the time during which the sun is above or below the horizon, and there is no meaning in uncovering one from the other. The origin of al-sal’kh (stripping) is the flaying of skin, like that of a sheep; thus, it is borrowed for the uncovering of light from the location of the night and the place of its darkness and shadow—a declared dependent metaphor. The point of comparison is what is understood from the sequence of one thing upon another; for the appearance of flesh follows the flaying of the skin, and the appearance of darkness follows the uncovering of light from the location of the night. It is permitted that in "the day" there is an implied metaphor, and in "stripping" a hypothetical metaphor. The majority hold the view we have mentioned. "Min" (from) indicates the beginning of an action, and it is said that it signifies partitivity; making it causative is nothing of consequence. This interpretation is narrated from al-Farra’, and similar to it is the interpretation of stripping as removal, and the usage of the fa’ (so/then) in His saying—Exalted is He—"and then they are in darkness."

That is, they enter into darkness, as indicated by the hamza of the form (i.e., muzlimun meaning dakhilin fi al-zalam). Upon this, the outward meaning is clear. There has occurred in it the statement of Sheikh Abd al-Qahir and Imam al-Sakkaki that what is borrowed for in the verse is the appearance of the day from the darkness of the night, and what is borrowed from is the appearance of the stripped thing from its skin. This, according to what the illustrious al-Tayyibi and the virtuous al-Yamani have said, is taken from the statement of al-Zajjaj: the meaning of "We strip from it the day" is "We bring out the day from it, an extraction such that nothing of its light remains." Thus, "appearance" in their expression means "exit," and this takes the object with "min," so there is no need to make it mean "away from."

It has come with this meaning, as in the statement of Umar to Abu Ubayda—may Allah be pleased with them both—"Bring out (azhir) with those who are with you from the Muslims to it," meaning the land; that is, bring them out to its surface. And in the hadith of Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—"The Prophet, peace be upon him, used to pray the afternoon prayer while the fay’ (afternoon shade) had not yet appeared (yazhar) from the chamber," meaning it had not yet emerged to its surface. Thus, the objection raised against them—that if appearance were intended, it would have been said "then they are seeing" instead of "then they are in darkness"—falls away; for what occurs after the emergence of the day from the darkness of the night is sight, without any need to carry the expression to a reversal, i.e., the emergence of the darkness of the night from the day. Some have lifted this objection by saying that the "day" is an expression for the total duration from the rising of the dawn or the sun until sunset, not just a part of it; thus, what occurs after this entire duration is the entry into darkness. Al-Salkuti followed this up by stating that the entry into darkness is contingent upon the stripping, not upon the expiration of the duration of the day.

Perhaps the intention of some is that stripping, in the sense of the appearance of the day, is not realized except through the appearance of all its parts, and whenever all the parts of the day appear, its duration expires. The illustrious al-Qutb mentioned that stripping may mean "removal," such as "I stripped the hide from the sheep," and it may mean "extraction," such as "I stripped the sheep of its hide," and the sheep is stripped. Sheikh Abd al-Qahir and al-Sakkaki favored the latter, while others favored the former. The use of the fa’ in "then they are" is clear according to the view of the others. As for their view, it is correct only in the sense that it is placed for what is customarily considered sequential without delay. This varies according to matters and customs; for time may be long, and custom in such a case requires not regarding the delay, or it may be the opposite, as in this verse. For although the time of the day intervened between the extraction of the day from the night and the entry of darkness, yet because the entry of darkness after illumination is immense—and it is of the sort that should only occur over many times that duration—the time was considered near, and the night was made as if it surprises them immediately after the extraction of the day from the night, without delay.

Then, it is not hidden that the idha of surprise is only valid if "stripping" is taken to mean "extraction," as when it is said: "He extracted the day from the night, so the arrival of the night surprised him," for this is consistent. This is unlike when it is taken to mean "removal," for it is not consistent to say: "He removed the light of the sun from the atmosphere, so the darkness surprised him," just as it is not consistent to say: "I broke the jug, so the breaking surprised him." For their entry into darkness is identical to the occurrence of darkness, so the relation of their entry into darkness to the removal of the light of the day is like the relation of the breaking to the act of breaking. For this reason, stripping was made to mean extraction rather than removal. This is the end of his speech. The second illustrious one strengthened it by saying that there is no doubt that a thing is only a sign if it involves a kind of strangeness and wonder such that it requires a kind of capability, and that is only the surprise of darkness after the appearance of the day, not after the vanishing of the light of the day. Al-Salkuti said: The lack of consistency of the surprise in what was mentioned is because it is only imagined in what is not expected, but occurs suddenly. Then it is possible to say in response: Since the removal of light from the night—due to the appearance of the night being in the utmost perfection—was expected to be over a long period, the occurrence of darkness after it in a short period is an unexpected matter. Then he said: By this, the answer to the strengthening became apparent. It is said that darkness, because it is something from which natures recoil and souls dislike, its occurrence is as if it were unexpected, and the stripping itself is sufficient to indicate power. What the previously mentioned from al-Tayyibi and al-Yamani requires is that the Sheikh and al-Sakkaki intended the extraction of the day from the night, an extraction such that nothing of its light remains, as al-Zajjaj said. Its end result is the removal of the light of the day from the location of the night and the place of its darkness, as al-Farra’ said. "Appearance" has come in their speech meaning "vanishing," as in the statement of Abu Dhu’ayb: "The slanderers taunted her that I love her, and that is a complaint whose shame has vanished (zahir) from you." Al-Jawhari narrated that it is said: "This is a matter whose shame has vanished (zahir) from you," meaning it has ceased. Al-Marzuqi said regarding the statement of the Hamasi poet: "And that is a shame, O son of Rita, that has vanished (zahir)." Thus, there is no prohibition that in the speech of the two Sheikhs it is in this meaning, and by "appearance" is intended "causing to appear." The expression is a leniency because it is apparent that "We strip" is transitive, so the matter returns to removal, and thus their speech unites with what al-Farra’ said. Likewise, according to what is said, the meaning of "appearance" is "emergence" by way of separation, due to the appearance of "vanishing" in it at that time. The matter of leniency remains as it is, and upon the view of unity, the objection of the illustrious one arrives, and the answer is the same answer. So contemplate, and Allah—Exalted is He—is the Guide to what is correct.

In the verse, according to more than one person, there is an indication that the original state is darkness, and light is an intruder upon it that covers it with its light. The hadith also contains what suggests this. Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi narrated from Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: "Indeed, Allah the Exalted created the creation in darkness, then He cast upon them from His light. So whoever was touched by His light was guided, and whoever missed it strayed."