Ad-Duha (The Morning Light): Verses 1-2

Verse 1: { والضحى } (By the morning light)

There are two main interpretations among the exegetes regarding the meaning of Ad-Duha (the morning light):

1. The Time of Morning: It refers to the time of Duha (mid-morning), when the sun has risen high and casts its rays.
2. The Entire Day: It refers to the whole day, evidenced by the fact that it is contrasted with the entire night.

Verse 2: { واليل إذا سجى } (And by the night when it covers)

Linguists have provided three closely related meanings for the word sajā (سجى):

1. It became still/calm (sakana): Abu Ubayd, Al-Mubarrad, and Al-Zajjaj stated that sajā means still. They cite examples like laylah sājiyah (a night with still winds) and ayn sājiyah (an eye with lowered lids). The sea is said to sajā when its waves become calm. A supplication is cited:

   O Master of the sea when the sea becomes still.

2. It became dark (aẓlama): Al-Farrā’ interpreted sajā as meaning it became dark and stagnant in its length.

3. It covered (ghaṭṭā): Al-Asma'i and Ibn Al-A'rabi interpreted sajā as the night covering the day, similar to how a man is covered with a garment.

The interpretations of the exegetes generally fall within these three meanings:

• Ibn Abbas said: It covered the world with darkness.
• Al-Hasan said: It clothed the people with its darkness.
• Ibn Abbas (in a narration by Sa'id ibn Jubayr) said: When the night approaches, it covers everything.
• Mujahid, Qatadah, As-Suddi, and Ibn Zayd said: It became still over the people. This stillness has two meanings:
  • The stillness of the people, attributed to the night (like saying a sleeping night or a fasting day).
  • The stillness means its darkness has settled and stabilized, not increasing further.

Inquiries (As'ilah)

Answer: There are several aspects:

1. Balancing Benefits: Both night and day regulate the affairs and interests of the accountable. The night has the virtue of precedence (as in {And He made the darknesses and the light} [Al-An'am: 1]), and the day has the virtue of light. Furthermore, the night can be likened to this world (dunya), and the day to the Hereafter (Akhirah). Since each has a virtue the other lacks, it is natural to present one before the other sometimes, and the reverse at other times. This is analogous to Allah mentioning prostration before bowing in {Prostrate and bow down} (Al 'Imran: 43), and then mentioning bowing before prostration in {Bow down and prostrate yourselves} (Al-Hajj: 77).
2. Contextual Association: In the Sura associated with Abu Bakr (Surat Al-Layl), the night (which symbolizes the preceding darkness/disbelief) was mentioned first. Here, in the Sura associated with the Prophet (peace be upon him), the morning light (Ad-Duha) is mentioned first because the Prophet (PBUH) was not preceded by sin.
3. Symbolic Relationship: Surat Al-Layl is the Sura of Abu Bakr, and Surat Ad-Duha is the Sura of Muhammad (PBUH). No intermediary was placed between them to indicate that there is no intermediary between Muhammad and Abu Bakr. If the night (Abu Bakr) is mentioned first, ascending leads to the day (Muhammad). If the morning light (Muhammad) is mentioned first, descending leads to the night (Abu Bakr).

Answer: There are several aspects:

1. Time and Divine Decree: It is as if Allah is saying: Time is composed of hours—some are night, some are day. Sometimes the hours of the night increase and the day hours decrease, and sometimes the reverse happens. Neither the increase nor the decrease is due to whim or dislike, but rather due to wisdom. Similarly, the revelation (Wahy) is sent down according to needs—sometimes sent, sometimes withheld. Neither the sending nor the withholding is due to personal desire or aversion.
2. Establishing Proof: A speaker's word is not effective until it is acted upon. Since Allah commanded that the burden of proof lies with the claimant and the oath with the denier, the disbelievers claimed that their Lord had forsaken and disliked the Prophet. Allah commanded them to bring proof, and when they failed, the oath became incumbent upon them (that Allah has neither forsaken nor disliked him).
3. Interdependence: It is as if Allah is saying: Observe the relationship between night and day; neither is free from the other; sometimes the night prevails, and sometimes the day prevails. How then can you expect to be safe from the creation?

Answer: There are several aspects:

1. Gathering and Relief: It is the time when people gather and feel complete comfort after the loneliness of the night. This assures him that after the distress caused by the withholding of revelation, the "morning light" of revelation will appear.
2. Association with Great Events: It is the hour when Moses spoke to his Lord, and the sorcerers prostrated. Thus, the time acquired virtue because it was the vessel for such acts. This implies that the One who honored Moses will not neglect honoring you, and the One who turned the hearts of the sorcerers to prostration can turn the hearts of your enemies.

Answer: There are several aspects:

1. Proportional Value: It is an indication that one hour of the day is equivalent to the entire night, just as Muhammad (PBUH), when weighed, is equivalent to all the Prophets.
2. Duration of Sorrow vs. Joy: The day is the time of joy and rest, while the night is the time of loneliness and grief. This indicates that the worries of this world are more enduring than its joys. The Duha is but one hour, while the night comprises many hours. It is narrated that when Allah created the Throne, a black cloud appeared to its left, asking what to rain down. It was answered: "Rain down sorrows and griefs for one hundred years." This happened three hundred times. Then, a white cloud appeared to the right of the Throne, asking what to rain down. It was answered: "Rain down joy for one hour." This is why griefs and sorrows seem constant, while joy is rare.
3. Analogy to Resurrection: The time of Duha is when people move about and recognize each other, making it analogous to the time of the Gathering. The stillness of the night is analogous to the stillness of people in the darkness of the graves. Both are blessings and wisdom, but life is superior to death, and what comes after death is superior to what preceded it. This is why the mention of Duha precedes the mention of the night.
4. Balancing Hope and Fear: The Duha was mentioned so that despair regarding relief would not set in, and then it was followed by the night so that complacency regarding Allah's plotting would not set in.

Answer: Yes, and there is no improbability in this interpretation. Some added further interpretations:

• Ad-Duha refers to the males of his household, and the night to their females.
• Ad-Duha refers to his Prophethood, and the night to the period of revelation's cessation, as revelation brought comfort while its absence brought distress.
• Ad-Duha is the light of his knowledge by which hidden matters are known, and the night is His forgiveness by which all hidden matters are concealed.
• Ad-Duha is the coming of Islam after it was strange, and the night indicates it will return to being strange.
• Ad-Duha is the perfection of intellect, and the night is the state of death.
• It is an oath by His manifest aspect, which creation sees no fault in, and by His secret, of which no knower of the unseen sees any fault.

Verse 3: { ما ودعك ربك وما قلى } (Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased.)