Tafsir of At-Tur 52:49

Surah At-Tur (The Mount): Verse 49

And [part of] the night, exalt Him, and [upon] the retreat of the stars.

Translation and Exegesis (Tafsir):

And His saying, the Exalted: {And [part of] the night, exalt Him, and upon the retreat of the stars} (At-Tur: 49).

This has been previously explained, and it is like His saying, the Exalted: {So exalt Allah when you enter the evening and when you enter the morning} (Ar-Rum: 17). We have already mentioned the wisdom behind specifying these times and their meaning.

We conclude this Surah with a point of benefit: He, the Exalted, mentioned here {and upon the retreat of the stars} (wa idbār an-nujūm), and He mentioned in the context of prostration: {and after prostrations} (wa adbār as-sujūd) (Qaf: 40).

It is possible to argue that the meaning is the same in both instances.

1. Interpretation of Idbār: The intended meaning could be the idbār (retreat/departure) of the stars, which is analogous to the idbār (completion/departure) of prostration.
2. The Stars Prostrating: Some suggest that an-nujūm (the stars) refers to those who prostrate, just as the stars prostrate, according to His saying: {And the plants and the stars prostrate} (Ar-Rahman: 6).
3. Literal Stars: Others hold that an-nujūm refers to the stars of the sky.
4. Vegetation without Stems: Another view is that an-nujūm refers to plants that do not have a stalk (or stem), based on the verse: {And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth} (An-Nahl: 49).
5. Duties/Functions: Alternatively, an-nujūm could refer to duties or functions (waẓā’if), as every duty is called a najm in the language. Thus, the meaning would be: when you finish the duties of the prayer, then say, "Exalted is Allah."

A Hadith supports this: "Whoever says ten Subhan Allah, ten Alhamdulillah, and ten Allahu Akbar immediately following the prayer, a thousand good deeds will be written for him." In this case, the meaning in both verses (At-Tur and Qaf) would be the same, as prostration is one of the duties (waẓā’if).

However, the well-known and apparent meaning is that {the retreat of the stars} refers to the time of dawn (ṣubḥ), when the star retreats and disappears, and its light vanishes due to the light of the sun.

This clarifies the fifth point we mentioned regarding His saying {when you rise} (At-Tur: 48), which we interpreted as referring to the daytime (the time of standing/rising).

Therefore, the structure is:

• {When you rise} (Ḥīna taqūm): Refers to the day.
• {And [part of] the night} (Wa min al-layl): Refers to the portion of the night when a person is awake.
• {And upon the retreat of the stars} (Wa idbār an-nujūm): Refers to the time of dawn.

Thus, the only time excluded from this command of glorification is the time of sleep.

This concludes the exegesis of this Surah. And Allah knows best. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and may Allah send blessings upon our Master Muhammad and his family and grant them peace.