Al-Qamar (The Moon): (38) And certainly, the morning overtook them...

Issue 1: {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum bi-bukrah)

What is the meaning of stating {in the morning} (bi-bukrah) when {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum) already implies the morning time?

We say: Its benefit is to clarify the exact timing of its occurrence. The phrase {in the morning} (bi-bukrah) can be interpreted in two ways:

First: It is in the accusative case as an adverb of time, similar to what we say regarding the verse: {And He took His Servant by night} (Asrā bi-‘abdihi laylan) (Al-Isrā’: 1).

There is a discussion regarding this: Al-Zamakhshari asked, "What is the benefit of saying {by night} (laylan)?" He answered that the indefinite nature indicates it happened during some part of the night, relying on the reading of those who read min al-layl (from the night), which is not apparent.

The more apparent explanation is that mentioning the time vaguely indicates that specifying the exact time is not the speaker's primary concern, nor is it what they intend to clarify. It is like saying, "We departed at some time," even though the departure must necessarily occur at some time. The speaker does not intend to specify the exact time. If one simply said, "We departed," the listener might ask, "When did you depart?" But if one says, "We departed at some time," it signals that the focus is on the departure itself, not the specification of its time.

Similarly, in the verse: {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum bi-bukrah), meaning in a morning from the early mornings (al-bukar). And {He took His Servant by night} (Asrā bi-‘abdihi laylan), meaning during a night from the nights, without specifying which one. The purpose is the journey itself. If He had said, "He took His Servant from the Sacred Mosque," the listener might ask, "Which night?" By saying, "a night from the nights," the question is cut off, as if saying, "I will not specify it." Even if the speaker is capable of ignorance, they would say, "I do not know the time." This interpretation is closer.

If you understand this regarding Asrā laylan, then understand the same for {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum bi-bukrah).

Another possibility under this view is that {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum) means He greeted them with "Good morning" (‘ammū ṣabāḥan) as mockery, similar to His saying: {Then give them tidings of a painful punishment} (Āl ‘Imrān: 21). It is as if He said, the punishment came to them in the early morning, like one who greets another in the morning. However, the first interpretation is sounder.

Furthermore, concerning {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum bi-bukrah), under the view that bukrah is an adverb of time, it carries a meaning that {He took His Servant by night} (Asrā bi-‘abdihi laylan) does not: {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum) means they were afflicted at the time of dawn (aṣ-ṣubḥ). However, the term taṣbīḥ (being overtaken in the morning) is used for arrival during many times, from the beginning of dawn until after the first light spreads (al-isfār). By saying {in the early morning} (bi-bukrah), it conveys that it happened in the very first part of that time, and not later, when the light had spread. This is the most appropriate and fitting interpretation because God had promised them the time of dawn: {Indeed, their appointed time is the morning} (Hūd: 81). It was incumbent, by the nature of the promise, that the punishment be realized at the very beginning of the morning. Merely saying {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum) would not convey this. This is stronger because you can say, "Yesterday morning was an early morning (bukrah), and today is an early morning (bukrah)," which brings in what we mentioned: that bukrah means an early morning from the earliest times.

Second: It is in the accusative case as a verbal noun (maṣdar) following the pattern of ḍarabtuhu sawṭan ḍarban (I struck him with a whip, a striking). In ḍarabtuhu ḍarban, the accusative is for the verbal noun, but it can also be something other than the verbal noun, as in ḍarabtuhu sawṭan ḍarban (I struck him with a whip, a striking), where ḍarban is not merely specifying the type of striking, because striking can be with a whip or something else. However, {in the early morning} (bi-bukrah) does not specify this, because we have already explained that bukrah clarifies the time: dawn can occur at the time the light spreads (al-isfār), or it can occur by arriving at the earliest times (al-abkār).

If one asks: Could the same be said for {He took His Servant by night} (Asrā bi-‘abdihi laylan)? We say: Yes. If one asks: There is no clarification of a type of night journey there, we reply: It is like someone saying, "I struck him with something." The word something is necessary for every strike, and this is valid as an accusative of the verbal noun, and its benefit is what we mentioned: clarifying that the purpose is not concerned with its types, as if the speaker says, "I will not specify what I struck him with, nor do I need to specify it because the objective is not related to it," thereby cutting off the questioner's inquiry: "What did you strike him with—a whip or a stick?" Similarly, the statement regarding {He took His Servant by night} (Asrā bi-‘abdihi laylan) cuts off the questioner's inquiry about the journey, because Isrā’ is traveling at the beginning of the night, while Sarā is traveling at the end of the night or otherwise.

Issue 2: {a settled punishment} (mustaqirr)

This term admits several meanings:

1. A punishment that cannot be averted; meaning it settles upon them and remains fixed, and no one has the power to remove it, lift it, or change or repel it.
2. Eternal; since when they were destroyed, they were transferred to Hellfire. Thus, what afflicted them was a punishment that was not removed by their death. Death relieves one from the pain felt by the beaten or the confinement felt by the imprisoned, but their death did not bring them relief.
3. A punishment settled upon them that does not extend to others; meaning it is a matter that God decreed and established for them, so it settled. It is not like saying it was an accidental event that afflicted them, like cold weather that harms the crops of one people but not another, which might be thought of as coincidental—if they had left their places, they would have been saved, like the people of Lot. Rather, this punishment followed them because it was a decreed matter.

Issue 3: The Pronoun in {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum)

The pronoun in {They were overtaken in the morning} (ṣabbaḥahum) refers back to those to whom the pronoun in {their eyes} (a‘yunihim) referred. Thus, it refers back to them in wording due to proximity, and in meaning, it refers to those who doubted the warnings, or those to whom the pronoun in the verse: {And certainly, I warned them of Our might} (Al-Qamar: 36) referred.