Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā

Meccan. Its verses are 11. (Revealed after [the Sūrah of] al-Fajr)

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

[Exegesis]

"By the morning brightness" It is the time when the sun rises and its light spreads.

"And [by] the night when it covers with darkness" Meaning when it settles, becomes still, and covers everything with its darkness. It is said that it refers to the time when the night reaches its peak of stillness.

"Your Lord has not taken leave of you" He has not abandoned you, nor has He forsaken you since He chose you.

"Nor has He detested [you]" He has not hated you since He loved you. This was revealed when the revelation was withheld from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for a period, causing the polytheists to say, "His Lord has abandoned him and detested him."

"By the morning brightness" (wa-l-ḍuḥā): The intended meaning of al-ḍuḥā is the time of the forenoon, which is the beginning of the day when the sun rises and casts its rays.

It is said that the forenoon was singled out for the oath because it is the hour in which Moses (peace be upon him) was spoken to, and the hour in which the sorcerers fell down in prostration, based on His saying: "And that the people be gathered in the forenoon" (Ṭā Hā: 59).

It is also said that al-ḍuḥā refers to the day, as evidenced by His saying: "That Our punishment should come to them in the forenoon" (al-Aʿrāf: 98), in contrast to "at night" (bayātan).

"And [by] the night when it covers with darkness" (wa-l-layli idhā sajā): Sajā means its darkness became still and settled. It is said: a sājiyah night is one where the wind is still. It is also said that it means the stillness of people and sounds during it. When the sea is sajā, its waves have calmed. A sāj gaze is one that is still and languid.

"Your Lord has not taken leave of you" (mā waddaʿaka): This is the response to the oath. Its meaning is: He has not severed ties with you as one who says farewell. It is also recited with a lightened dāl (wadʿaka), meaning: He has not abandoned you. The poet said: Then we bade farewell to the family of ʿAmr and ʿĀmir, As the tips of the brown, sharpened spears [did to them].

Tawdīʿ (bidding farewell) is an intensive form of wadʿ (leaving), because whoever bids you farewell while departing has gone to the extreme in leaving you.

It is narrated that the revelation was delayed from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for several days, so the polytheists said: "Muhammad has been abandoned by his Lord and hated." It is also said that Umm Jamīl, the wife of Abū Lahab, said to him: "O Muhammad, I see only that your devil has abandoned you," so this was revealed.

The pronoun is omitted from qalā (hated) just as it is omitted from al-dhākirāt (the remembering women) in His saying: "And the men who remember Allah often and the women who remember [Him]" (al-Aḥzāb: 35). It is a linguistic abbreviation because the omitted element is obvious. Similar examples include: "And He found you lost and guided [you]" (wa-wajadaka ḍāllan fahadā) and "And He found you poor and made [you] self-sufficient" (wa-wajadaka ʿāʾilan fa-aghnā).

"And the Hereafter is better for you than the first [life]. And your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied."