Tafsir of At-Tur 52:49

"And at night glorify Him" is a singular specification of a portion of the night for glorification, because worship during that time is more burdensome to the self and further from ostentation, as is suggested by its placement before the action.

"And at the retreating of the stars" means at the time of their retreat at the end of the night, which is their disappearance due to the light of the morning. It is said: The glorification at night is the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and "the retreating of the stars" refers to the two units (rak'ahs) of the Fajr prayer. From Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), Ali (may Allah honor his face), Abu Hurayrah, and Al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is reported that the glorification at night refers to the voluntary (nafl) prayers, and "the retreating of the stars" refers to the two units of the Fajr prayer. Salim bin Abi al-Ja'd, Al-Minhal bin Amr, and Ya'qub recited "idbar" with a fatha on the hamza; it is the plural of "dabr," meaning the aftermath or the traces, specifically the moments after they set or are obscured by the rays of the sun.

Regarding the structure of the verses from the Almighty’s saying, "Or do they say, 'A poet'?" to the Almighty's saying, "Or have they a deity other than Allah?", there is strangeness in it. I have not seen anyone unveil its meanings like the author of Al-Kashshaf—may Allah the Exalted reward him with good. Due to its extreme excellence and the fact that nothing can be added to it, I loved to convey it verbatim, though with some abbreviation.

I say: Al-Zamakhshari alluded to two aspects regarding this in the Almighty’s saying: "Rather, they said, 'A mixture of dreams,' rather, he has fabricated it, rather, he is a poet." The first is that it is a narration of their confused speech in its own right. The second is that it is a gradual progression from the Almighty in narrating what they said, from the detestable to that which is even more so. The first is weak in our context because the speech was not meant to document the confusion of their sayings as they are, but rather to console the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), confirming that He will inevitably take vengeance for him against them, and that the punishment they deny will surely befall them as a recompense for their denial of the warner, the warning, and the warned. Therefore, the second view is the definitive one. Its logic—and Allah knows best—is that the command "So remind" means: Since it is established that the punishment will occur, that both groups—the believers and the disbelievers—will be recompensed for their deeds, and that you are upon the manifest truth, which those who deny deserve humiliation and those who believe deserve approval, then persist in reminding. Do not care about their plotting, for you are the victor in proof and sword in this abode, and in status and loftiness in the abode of permanence.

From the Almighty's saying, "So what is [the matter with] you" to His saying, "They are the ones who are plotted against" is a detailing of this general statement, while exposing the corruption of their foolish pronouncements. They are under the sight and hearing of Allah the Exalted, so He will inevitably take vengeance for His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) against them. In this is evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) holds a position with Allah that cannot be measured; this strengthens the consolation. His saying, "So you are, by the favor of your Lord, not [a soothsayer]..." implies that one whom Allah has favored with prophethood cannot possibly be either of these two. He began with their contradictory statements to show, firstly, the corruption of their opinions and to establish it as a standard for their turning away from the truth and preferring to follow their own desires. How far removed is the state of one who was the most perfect in opinion, the most sound in intellect, and the clearest in signs from his youth until he reached maturity, from madness and soothsaying? Furthermore, these two are contradictory, as the soothsayers were considered among their elites, and their word was an authority followed by them—so how could soothsaying be equated with madness?

Then He ascends, moving to their statement about him—far be it from him—that he is a poet, because that is more ingrained in falsehood than a soothsayer or a madman. It has been said: "The best poetry is the most deceitful." This is to show the state of their hesitation and confusion. His saying, "Say, 'Wait...'" is a form of requital in the manner of their own deeds, containing a completion of the threat. This is one aspect of their denial which the Almighty demolished: first, implicitly, by His saying, "By the favor of your Lord," and second, explicitly, by His saying, "Or do their minds command them [to do] this?" It is as if it were said: Leave them and that statement, with all its confusion, for there is a lesson in it. Then that was attributed to their tyranny, for that is more severe in blame than a deficiency of intellect and more effective in consolation, because whoever transgresses against Allah the Mighty and Majestic has incurred His wrath.

Then He turned to a category more deeply rooted in denial, which is the attribution of fabrication to him (peace and blessings be upon him). This is because fabrication is the furthest thing from his state due to his fame for truthfulness. Furthermore, it being a fabrication while they are unable to produce a single short surah from this "fabricated" text are contradictory, as the latter indicates truthfulness, as discussed in Surah Al-Ahqaf. Moreover, a poet does not rely on falsehood for its own sake; sometimes his poetry is wisdom and admonition, in which he is not attributed to shame. The progression from poetry here is the reverse of the progression toward it regarding the prophets, because the discussion here concerns the progression in contradiction and the intensification of vilification against him (peace and blessings be upon him) and the denial of his message. There, it concerned the vilification of some of the verses of the Reminder that were newly revealed. So it was said: His fabrication is not unlikely for one who is a poet with many fabrications. Where does this stand in relation to that? To alert one to this intensification, the explicit letter of contradiction was brought in the rejection, so it was said: "Rather, they do not believe." It was followed by His saying, "Then let them bring..." and the one who does not believe is more severe in denial than the tyrant, just as the fabricator is more ingrained in falsehood than the poet.

Then He adopted a style more effective in refuting their claims: madness and soothsaying, due to their proximity, then poetry, then fabrication—where He placed the speakers in the position of one who claims he was created from nothing, meaning without a measurer and creator. Otherwise, the search for His attributes and actions would have concerned them, and they would not have denied what they denied. Whoever considers himself independent of the Creator is sent by his messenger to madness and soothsaying; nay, he is like one who claims he is his own creator—so he has no creator to search for his attributes—so he attributes him to poetry, as he does not send him anything at all, and poetry is more ingrained in falsehood. Nay, he is like one who claims he created the heavens and the earth and everything between them, so he attributes him to fabrication as he did not send him. Then He strikes clearly away from them with His saying, "Rather, they do not have certainty." And whoever has no certainty in such self-evident truths is not unlikely to measure you by what he has measured himself. It is as if it were said: That statement of theirs leads to this, not that they were saying it, in order to reveal the extent of their obstinacy.

Then it was exaggerated by bringing what indicates that the Prophet must, in their claim, be a fabricator who is unfit for prophethood. The first—since they did not enumerate the gods—only indicates his fabrication in that one of the creators does not invite the other to worship him. The second forbids it entirely, because if they possessed all the treasures of their Lord and did not send him, it would necessitate that he be a fabricator by all means. Included in this is their denial of the Resurrection and their attribution of that to him (peace and blessings be upon him) as well, specifically to fabrication. The carrying of the "treasures of power" is more apparent, because "Or do they have the unseen" refers to the treasures of knowledge. Since the intent there was the matter of the Resurrection, as will be verified, God willing, this statement is also of such a nature. The implication in His saying, "Or are they the controllers?" is clear in its escalation.

Then, when He finished that and explained the corruption of what they based their denial upon by the evidence of reason, it was said: Nothing remains except witnessing and hearing from the Almighty, and that is more clearly impossible. So He mocked them and said, "Or have they a stairway [into the heaven] upon which they listen?" Then He concluded with His saying, "Or do they have daughters..." as an indication that one who makes his Creator of lower status than himself, one should not find it unlikely that he would utter such foolish statements. It is as if he was consoled (peace and blessings be upon him). It is also said: The sufficiency of the two accusations being equally invalid and the evil consequences they will encounter is enough. Then it was said, "Or do you ask of them a payment?" meaning: The people are masters of intellect and are not in any way characterized by those descriptions; rather, what made them averse to you is that you ask them for money, status, or fame. In this is a mockery of them and a blame for envy and baseness, and that despite their short-sightedness regarding the matter of the Resurrection, they do not build their case on what is conventional and customary. For no one among the people of the world and those of status confronts a sincere advisor, whose reputation is cleared of the taint of greed, with such statements. Furthermore, it is an envy that has no place among its possessors; they are not such that they would attain the blessing of prophethood, nor is he one who covets their blessings. One of the three is true.

Then it was said, "Or do they have the unseen?" in the sense of: Do they have the Preserved Tablet so that they know everything that is to be and write these bits of information in it, and they have learned that what you claim of the Resurrection is not among the written realities? The intent of this is to negate what was warned of—namely, the Resurrection—in a way that also includes negating the prophethood. This is the inverse of the first, which is why it was placed after His saying, "Or do they have a stairway..." It has already passed that the discussion of the warner, the warning, and the warned is a subject of concern. The objective of the first two was achieved with an allusion to the latter. Then, he entered into it while alluding to both to fulfill the right of inimitability. In "the unseen" there is a reference to the unseen—namely, the Hour or everything else. There is also an escalation in the refutation, because the act is more comprehensive in scope than the power. Also, the first is a denial from the aspect that they did not send him, and this is from that same aspect, and from the aspect that they did not act upon the sending of another to him also, with complete knowledge, though that is not the primary intention.

Finally, the speech was concluded by turning away from the denial to inform them of their state, that they desire to plot against you, so they set up traps for you in speech and action. They do not stop at this statement alone, and "They are the ones who are plotted against," not you, in speech, action, proof, and sword. He confirmed the threat he implied with His saying, "Or have they a deity other than Allah?"—so He could save them from His plot and His punishment? No, by Allah! Allah is exalted above there being a deity other than Him. From this, it is apparent that interpreting "those who disbelieved" as those who desire to plot against him is more evident in this context.

This concludes it. It is as if what follows is a confirmation of the matter of their tyranny, an increase in the threat, and an exaggeration in the consolation. It is known from what he mentioned—may the mercy of Allah the Exalted be upon him—that "Am" (Or) in all of this is disjointed and is estimated as "Bal" (Rather), the particle of turning away. The turning away here occurs by way of escalation and with the hamza, which is for denial. This is what Abu al-Baqa and many of the exegetes chose. Al-Tha'labi narrated from Al-Khalil that it is connected and intended as an interrogative. You should hold to what the words of that master have provided, and Allah the Exalted knows best.

Among what they mentioned from the way of ishara (signification) in some of the verses: "At-Tur" is a sign for the human mold; "a written scroll" is a sign for his secret; "in parchment unfolded" is a sign for his heart; "the frequented House" is a sign for his soul; "the elevated ceiling" is a sign for his attribute; and "the filled sea" is a sign for his self, filled with the fires of desire, anger, and pride. It is also said: At-Tur is a sign for the souls that flew from the world of holiness and the kingdom until they fell into the nets of the world of dominion. The written scroll in the unfolded parchment is a sign for the divine inscriptions perceived by the eyes of holy insights, written in the pages of the horizons. "The frequented House" is a sign for the believer's heart, filled with knowledge and sincerity. "The elevated ceiling" is a sign for the celestial world, elevated above the earth of nature. "The filled sea" is a sign for the sea of power, filled with types of infinite decrees. It is also said: It is a sign for the space in which the bewildered angels reside, and he described it as "filled" either because it is full of them or because it was fueled with the fires of bewilderment, which is why none of them knows anything but Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Others said differently.

"So woe that Day to the deniers, who are in a flood [of falsehood] playing"—meaning they plunge into the depths of the worldly, surging sea and play in it with its vain froth and its meager belongings. They deny those who are purified from impurities and adorned with lights when they warn them that the righteous are the opposites of those, "delighted with what their Lord has given them"—from that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has not crossed the heart of a human. "And their Lord protected them from the punishment of the Hellfire," which is the punishment of the veil. "Eat"—from the fruits of the knowledge pertaining to the subtle self, "and drink"—from the waters of the springs pertaining to the subtle heart. "And glorify the praises of your Lord when you stand"—meaning the station of servitude. "And at night glorify Him"—meaning when the tranquility descends upon you. "And at the retreating of the stars"—meaning when the light of the sun of the Face appears. His glorification—Exalted is He—at that time is by refraining from affirming the existence of anything other than His true existence, for affirming such is absolute polytheism in that station. May Allah the Exalted protect us and you from polytheism by the sanctity of the Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him).