Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā

It is Makkan, and its verses are eleven, without dispute. When He, glory be to Him, mentioned prior to it, "But the righteous one will avoid it," and the master of the righteous was the Messenger of Allah, may Allah the Exalted bless him and grant him peace, He, glory be to Him, followed that by mentioning His blessings, Almighty and Majestic is He, upon him, may Allah the Exalted bless him and grant him peace.

The Imam said: "Since the former was the Surah of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and this is the Surah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, He, Majestic and Exalted is He, caused this to follow it and placed no intermediary between them, so that it may be known that there is no intermediary between His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Truthful One (al-Ṣiddīq), may Allah be pleased with him."

The precedence of the Surah of the Truthful One over his Surah, upon him be blessings and peace, does not indicate his superiority over him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Do you not see that He, the Exalted, swore first by some of His creatures, glory be to Him, then He swore by Himself, Almighty and Majestic is He, in several places, including the preceding Surah, as you have known? Servants may walk before their masters, and many supererogatory acts (sunan) have been commanded to precede the obligatory acts of worship. Light is not harmed by following its branches, nor is the spearhead harmed by being at the extremities of its shaft. Furthermore, what he mentioned is the blossom of spring which cannot withstand rubbing, as is not hidden.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

"By the Morning Brightness" (wa-l-duha): The discussion concerning it has already preceded. What is intended by it here is the time when the sun rises high, which follows the time of its initial appearance to those looking on—not merely its light and its elevation, for this is more appropriate to what follows it. Its specification for the oath is because it is the "youth" of the day. There is a saying concerning it that it possesses a strength not close to its opposite; hence, it is considered a daily honor for the sun and a time of felicity. Furthermore, according to what they say, it is the hour in which Allah the Exalted spoke to Moses (peace be upon him), and it is when the sorcerers fell down in prostration, due to His saying, the Exalted: "And that the people be gathered in the morning brightness (duha)." Therefore, there is an appropriateness to what is being sworn upon—which is that Allah, the Exalted, has not forsaken the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), nor has He abandoned him, through His benevolence and His speaking, the Glorified.

It has been said that what is intended by it is the daytime, as in His saying, the Exalted: "That Our punishment should come to them in the morning brightness (duha)." This has been challenged by the reference to the [time of] the morning, for it occurs there in opposition to "the night," which is absolute night, whereas here it is in opposition to the night, qualified in meaning by the intensification of its darkness. Thus, it is appropriate that it be intended as the time of its elevation and the strength of its illumination. It was answered by denying that the qualification implies intensification, and you shall hear, if Allah the Exalted wills, what pertains to that. Regardless, the apparent meaning is that the intent is the genus—that is, the genus of the morning brightness.