Tafsir of Al-Muzzammil 73:6

"Indeed, the nashi'ah of the night," that is, the soul that rises from its bed for worship; meaning it stands up. One says, "He nasha' (rose) from his place," and nashara if he stands up. He cited the verse: "We rose (nasha'na) to khaws (a type of camel) in it, the nocturnal journey / and more noble than it are those with prominent tops of the head." The outward appearance of the words of the linguists is that nasha' in this meaning is Arabic language. Al-Kirmani said in his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari that it is an Abyssinian word that they Arabized. A group narrated something similar from Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, and Abu Hayyan recounted it from Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Zayd.

He made nashi'ah the plural of nashi', as if he meant the rising souls, meaning the standing ones. The facet of the singular form is apparent. The genitive construction (idafa) is either with the meaning of "in" or "upon," like the expression "master of my anger," and this is more eloquent. Or, it is the standing of the night, on the basis that nashi'ah is a verbal noun from nasha'a, meaning "stood," like al-'aqibah. Attributing it to the night is figurative, just as one says, "He stood his night and fasted his day." This standing was specified as the standing from sleep; thus said Aisha, and she forbade it being intended as absolute standing. This is because the attribution to the night in their saying "standing of the night" implies standing from sleep within it, or standing at the time of sleep for those who said "the whole night." Or, [it means] the worship that nasha'a, i.e., comes into existence at night, with the genitive being for specification, or with the meaning of "in," or like "the plotting of the night."

Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Zayd, and a group said: Nashi'at al-layl are the hours of the night because they tansha'u, i.e., come into existence one after another, meaning they follow each other, and the genitive in this case is for specification. Or, [it means] its initial hours, from nasha'a if it begins. Al-Kisa'i said: Nashi'ah is its beginning. Close to this is what was narrated from Ibn Umar, Anas bin Malik, and Ali bin al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them): it is what is between Maghrib and Isha.

"It is more wat'an," that is, it is specifically—as opposed to the nashi'ah of the day—more muwata'ah (accordance), where the heart coincides with the tongue if nashi'ah is intended as the soul performing tahajjud. Or, the one standing coincides with his tongue [in it] if it refers to the standing, or the worship, or the hours. The attribution is literal in the first case, and in this [second] case, it is figurative; considering it a metonymy (isti'arah makniyyah) is not strong. Or, it means more in agreement with what is desired of sincerity, so there is no figurative meaning under all interpretations.

Ibn Abbas, Ibn al-Zubayr, Mujahid, and the two Arabs (the Meccan and Medinan reciters) read it as wita'an, with a kasrah on the waw and a fathah on the ta', elongated, as a verbal noun for wata'a wita'an, like qatala qitalan. Qatada and Shibl from the people of Mecca read it as wit'an with a kasrah on the waw, a sukun on the ta', and a shortened hamza. Ibn Muhaysin read it with a fathah on the waw, elongated.

"And aqwam (more correct) in speech," meaning more righteous in discourse, or more established in recitation due to the presence of the heart and the stillness of voices. Qilan in both cases is a verbal noun, but in the first, it is general for dhikr and supplications, and in the second, it is specific to recitation. Its accusative case, and the accusative case of wat'an, is for the purpose of specification (tamyiz). Ibn Jarir and others narrated from Anas bin Malik that he recited it as "aswaba (more accurate) in speech." A man said to him, "We recite it as aqwama (more correct) in speech." He replied, "Indeed, aswaba, aqwama, ahya'a, and their likes are all one."