Tafsir of Al-Muzzammil 73:6

Surah Al-Muzzammil (73): Verse 6

{إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ اللَّيْلِ} (Indeed, the rising of the night...)

It is said: Nasha’a yansha’u nasha’an, so it is nāshi’ah (rising/emerging). The act of creation/initiation (inshā’) is bringing something into being. Thus, everything that comes into existence is called nāshi’. The masculine form is nāshi’ and the feminine is nāshi’ah when referring to something known.

Once this is established, we have two main interpretations for nāshi’ah:

1. It refers to the hours of the night.
2. It refers to the events/matters that occur during the hours of the night.

Regarding the first view (the hours): Abu ‘Ubaydah said: Nāshi’at al-layl refers to its successive and consecutive hours and parts, as they emerge one after another (nāshi’ah after nāshi’ah).

Those who hold this view differ among themselves:

• Some say the entire night is nāshi’ah. Ibn Abi Mulaykah narrated that he asked Ibn ‘Abbas and Ibn al-Zubayr about nāshi’at al-layl, and they replied: "The entire night is nāshi’ah."
• Zayn al-‘Abidin (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Nāshi’at al-layl is the time between Maghrib and ‘Ishā’. This is also the view of Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, al-Dahhak, and al-Kisa’i, who argued that this is the hour when the deep darkness of the night begins to set in.

Regarding the second view (the events/matters): They interpret nāshi’ah as things that happen at night. They offered several justifications for this:

1. It refers to the soul rising at night (al-nafs al-nāshi’ah) to worship, meaning it rises up from its resting place. This is derived from the phrase nasha’at al-sahābah (the cloud rose/emerged).
2. It refers to rising for night vigil after sleeping (qiyām al-layl ba‘da al-nawm). Ibn al-A‘rabi said: If you sleep an initial sleep during the first part of the night and then wake up, that is the nash’ah (the rising/commencement), and from this comes nāshi’at al-layl.

A Third View (My Own Assessment): The intended meaning is that when a person turns to worship and remembrance in the dark night, in a dark place where his senses are completely unengaged by any sensory input, the heart then turns toward spiritual insights (al-khawāṭir al-rūḥāniyyah) and divine reflections (al-afkār al-ilāhiyyah). During the day, the senses are occupied with tangible things, causing the soul to be preoccupied with the material, thus preventing it from accessing spiritual states. Therefore, nāshi’at al-layl refers to those spiritual visitations and luminous reflections that are unveiled in the darkness of the night due to the cessation of sensory engagement. It is named nāshi’at al-layl because these things only emerge at night, as the senses that distract the soul are dormant at night and active during the day.

It is not specified what these emergent things are; sometimes they are thoughts and contemplations, sometimes lights and unveilings (mukāshafāt), and sometimes spiritual emotions such as joy in the Divine Presence, fear of it, or visions of wondrous states. Since these emergent matters are numerous categories that share no single unifying descriptor except that they are emergent, newly occurring things, it was appropriate to describe them only as nāshi’at al-layl (the emergent things of the night).

{هِيَ أَشَدُّ وَطْأً} (...it is more firm in footing/more impactful...)

This means more in agreement, conformity, and suitability (muwāṭa’ah and mulā’amah). Waṭ’ is a verbal noun (masdar); one says wāṭa’tu fulānan ‘alā kadhā muwāṭa’atan wa waṭ’atan. From this is the verse: {لِيُوَاطِئُوا عِدَّةَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ} (to conform to the number of what Allah has forbidden) (At-Tawbah: 37), meaning to agree.

• If we interpret nāshi’ah as the hours, the meaning is that these hours are more conducive to the submission (khushū‘) and sincerity (ikhlāṣ) that arise.
• If we interpret it as the rising soul, the meaning is the greater conformity between the heart and the tongue.
• If we interpret it as night vigil, the meaning relates to the intended sincerity and submission.
• If we interpret it by the third view (spiritual insights), the meaning is that the path to achieving unveilings (mukāshafāt) through these struggles (mujāhadāt) is stronger/more direct at night than during the day. Al-Hasan said it means a greater conformity between the hidden self (al-sirr) and the manifest self (al-‘alāniyyah) because the sight of creatures is cut off.

The Second Issue: The word {أَشَدُّ} (more firm/impactful) has been recited with both Fath (A-shaddu) and Kasr (I-shaddu). There are two interpretations for this variation:

1. Al-Farra’ said: Ashaddu means more firmly established in footing (thabāt qadam), because during the day people are restless and moving about for their livelihoods.
2. It means heavier and more severe (athqal wa aghlaz) upon the worshipper than the daytime prayer. This comes from the saying: "The dominion of so-and-so became heavy upon the people" (ishtaddat ‘alayhim waṭ’at sultānihim), meaning their dealings with him became burdensome. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "O Allah, make Your striking heavy upon the tribe of Mudar!" Thus, Allah informed His Prophet that the reward for night vigil corresponds to the severity of the impact (waṭ’ah) and its heaviness. Similar to this is the saying of the Prophet (PBUH): (The best acts of worship are the most intense/difficult) (aḥmazuhā), meaning the hardest.

Abu ‘Ubaydah preferred the first recitation (Ashaddu with Fath), arguing that since Allah commanded him to stand at night, He followed it with this verse, as if saying: "I commanded you to stand at night because the conformity between the heart and the tongue is more complete therein, and also the nocturnal reflections leading to spiritual unveilings are more perfect."

{وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا} (...and more upright in speech.)

There are two issues concerning this phrase:

The First Issue: Ibn ‘Abbas said it means better in wording/expression (aḥsan lafẓan). Ibn Qutaybah said: This is because at night, voices quiet down, movements cease, and speech becomes pure, with no barrier preventing its hearing and understanding.

The Second Issue: Anas recited it as {وَأَصْوَبُ قِيلًا} (and more correct/sound in speech). When he was asked, "O Abu Hamzah, it is only wa aqwamu qīlan," Anas replied: "Indeed, aqwamu and aṣwabu and ahya’ (more suitable) are one and the same."

Ibn Jinni noted that this indicates the Companions considered the meanings paramount; if they found the meaning to be the same, they did not pay attention to the specific wording. A similar case is the narration that Abu Suwār al-Ghanawī used to recite: {فَحَاسُوا خِلَالَ الدِّيَارِ} (They searched/stirred among the dwellings) using the letter Ḥā’ without a dot (i.e., ḥāsū), whereas the standard text is jāsū (they searched/roamed). When told, he replied: "Ḥāsū and Jāsū mean the same thing."

My Response: We must interpret this by assuming that they mentioned this as an explanation of the meaning of the Qur’anic text, not as establishing it as the Qur’an itself. If we followed Ibn Jinni’s line of reasoning, reliance on the specific wording of the Qur’an would cease, and we would permit everyone to express the meaning with any wording they deemed appropriate. Sometimes they might be correct in that belief, and sometimes they might err, which leads to casting doubt upon the Qur’an. Therefore, it is established that we must interpret their statements as we have explained above (i.e., as exegesis, not variant recitation).

Verse 7: {إِنَّ لَكَ فِي النَّهَارِ سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا} (Indeed, for you by day is a long engagement/activity.)