Tafsir of Ad-Dukhan 44:4

This is also a resumption to specify the "Blessed Night." It is as if it were said: We revealed it because it is our way to warn and caution against punishment, and its revelation took place in that Blessed Night because it is among the matters indicating profound wisdom; it is a night in which every wise affair is decided.

In the discourse, there is an insinuation (laf) and elaboration (nashr). The condition that each of these must consist of two independent sentences is unnecessary. It is said that the sentence {In it is decided...} is another description of the night, and what is between them is an interruption (iʿtirāḍ) that the separation does not harm; in fact, the separation by it is not even considered a separation.

Others say that His saying, the Almighty, {Indeed, We were [to be] warners} is the response to the oath, and what lies between them is an interruption. Ibn Atiyyah held this view, claiming it is not permissible to make {Indeed, We revealed it} the response to the oath when the oath is made by the thing regarding itself. This was countered by the argument that His saying {In it is decided every wise affair} would then be a completion of the interruption, and thus it would not be appropriate for it to follow that which is sworn upon. The argument that this sentence is a resumption and not a secondary description does not defend against this, because it is an expository resumption related to what precedes it, as you have heard; therefore, separation is also improper, as is not hidden from one of sound taste. As for what was mentioned regarding the objection to swearing by a thing regarding itself, we have already indicated its refutation.

It is said that His saying, the Almighty, {Indeed, We were warners} is another response to the oath, and the multiplicity of that which is sworn upon—without a conjunction—has not been seen by us to be addressed by anyone.

The meaning of yufraq (is decided) is to separate and summarize. Hakīm (wise) implies muhkam (made firm/unalterable), because it does not change or alter after it is revealed to the angels (peace be upon them), unlike its state before that while it is in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ), for God Almighty effaces therein what He wills and confirms what He wills.

It is permitted that it means al-maḥkūm bihi (that which is decreed), and its attribution to the "affair" is literal. It is also permitted that the meaning is "every affair imbued with wisdom," and the original is ḥakīm ṣāḥibuhu (its possessor is wise), so the attribution is metaphorical. It is said that ḥakīm is for attribution like tāmir (possessor of dates) and labin (possessor of milk).

Muḥammad ibn Naṣr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said regarding this: "What is to occur in the year—provision, death, life, or rain—is written from the Mother of the Book on the Night of Decree, even to the extent of writing, 'So-and-so shall perform Hajj, and so-and-so shall perform Hajj.'"

ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Jarīr narrated from Rabīʿah ibn Kulthūm who said: "I was with al-Ḥasan, and a man said to him, 'O Abū Saʿīd, is the Night of Decree in every Ramadan?' He said, 'Yes, by Allah, it is in every Ramadan, and it is a night in which every wise affair is decided. In it, God Almighty decrees every term, deed, and provision until the next [year].'" This generalization was narrated from more than one of the Salaf (predecessors).

Al-Bayhaqī narrated from Abū al-Jawzāʾ regarding {In it is decided every wise affair}: "It is the Night of Decree, in which the Great Register is copied from one year to the next. So God Almighty forgives whom He wills." Do you not see that He, the Exalted and Majestic, said, {A mercy from your Lord}? There is a discussion regarding this.

Some who said that the "Blessed Night" is the night of Barāʾah (the middle of Shaʿban) held to a similar generalization. Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated via Muḥammad ibn Sūqah from ʿIkrimah that he said regarding the verse: "On the night of the middle of Shaʿban, the affair of the year is finalized; the living are inscribed from the dead, and the Hajj pilgrims are written, such that no one is added to them nor is anyone subtracted from them."

In many reports, the matter is limited to the cutting off of terms (death). Ibn Jarīr and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿab al-Īmān narrated from al-Zuhrī from ʿUthmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Mughīrah ibn al-Akhnas that the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said: "Terms are cut off from Shaʿban to Shaʿban, to the point that a man marries and has children born to him, yet his name has already been exited among the dead."

Al-Daylamī narrated in al-Majālisah from Rāshid ibn Saʿd that the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) said: "On the night of the middle of Shaʿban, God Almighty reveals to the Angel of Death the seizure of every soul He intends to seize in that year." Similar narrations are numerous.

It is said that the copying of every wise affair from the Preserved Tablet begins on the night of Barāʾah and is completed on the Night of Decree. Thus, the copy of provisions is delivered to Mika’il (peace be upon him), the copy of wars to Jibril (peace be upon him)—as well as earthquakes, thunderbolts, and sinkings—the copy of deeds to Ismaʿil (peace be upon him), the keeper of the lowest heaven—who is a great angel—and the copy of calamities to the Angel of Death. It is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may God be pleased with both of them): "All decrees are finalized on the night of the middle of Shaʿban and delivered to their respective guardians on the twenty-seventh night of [Ramadan]."

The evidence used by the literalists that the aforementioned night is the Night of Decree and not the night of the middle of Shaʿban was challenged by what has been mentioned. Whoever reflects will know that this does not damage the literal interpretations. Indeed, it is related from ʿIkrimah that the night of the middle of Shaʿban is the Night of Decree, and he is thus compelled to interpret that which opposes its literal meaning. So reflect. God willing, the discussion on this subject will come in the explanation of Sūrat al-Qadr in the most complete manner, and He, the Almighty, is the Grantor of success.

Al-Ḥasan and al-Aʿraj read yufraq (is decided) with a fatḥah on the bāʾ and a ḍammah on the rāʾ, and kullu (every) in the accusative case (naṣb)—meaning God Almighty decides. Zayd ibn ʿAlī read—according to what al-Zamakhsharī mentioned from him—nufarriqu (We decide) with an nūn, and kulla (every) in the accusative. According to what Abū ʿAlī al-Ahwāzī mentioned from him, it is read with a fatḥah on the yāʾ and a kasrah on the rāʾ, with kulla in the accusative and ḥakīmun in the nominative as the agent of yufriqu. Al-Ḥasan and Zāʾidah narrated from al-Aʿmash the reading yuffarraqu (is decided) with a shaddah and the passive form, which is for intensification. In this is a rebuttal to some linguists, such as al-Ḥarīrī, who claimed that farq is specific to meanings and taf to physical bodies.