Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:12

"And We have made the night and the day..."

There are two interpretations:

First: That the night and the day are signs in themselves. The genitive construction (idafa) in "the sign of the night" and "the sign of the day" is for clarification, like adding a number to the counted object. It means: We erased the sign that is the night, and We made the sign that is the day visible.

Second: That it means: We made the two luminaries of the night and the day two signs, meaning the sun and the moon.

• "So We erased the sign of the night": Meaning We made the night erased of light, obliterated, and dark, such that nothing is clearly seen in it, just as nothing is seen on an erased tablet.
• "And We made the day visible": Meaning that things are seen and made clear within it.
• Alternatively: We erased the sign of the night, which is the moon, as He did not create for it rays like the rays of the sun, by which things are seen clearly. And We made the sun possess rays, in whose light everything is seen.

"{That you may seek bounty from your Lord}" That you may reach, through the brightness of the day, the clarification of your works and the management of your livelihoods.

"{And that you may know}" Through the alternation of the two new ones (the night and the day), "{the number of years and the account}"—the category of "account" and what you need of it. Were it not for this, no one would know the calculation of times, and affairs would be paralyzed.

"{And everything}" Of what you need in your religion and your worldly life, "{We have detailed}"—We have clarified it with a clarification that is not ambiguous, thus removing your excuses and leaving you no argument against Us.

"{And [for] every person We have fastened his omen to his neck, and We will produce for him on the Day of Resurrection a record which he will encounter spread open. [It will be said], 'Read your record. Sufficient is yourself against you this Day as accountant.'}"