Tafseer of The Declining Day, Epoch · Al-Asr · 103:1
By time,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discussion of the explanation of the words of Allah, exalted and blessed be His names:
وَالْعَصْرِ (1)
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the explanation of His word: وَالْعَصْرِ . Some said: it is an oath that our Lord — exalted be His remembrance — swore by time. They said: al-ʿaṣr means: time (al-dahr).
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَالْعَصْرِ — he said: "Al-ʿaṣr is one hour out of the hours of the day."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning وَالْعَصْرِ — he said: "It is the evening (al-ʿashiyy)."
The correct view concerning this is to say: our Lord swore an oath by al-ʿaṣr — and وَالْعَصْرِ is a name for time (al-dahr), namely the evening, the night, and the day — without privileging any one specific meaning that falls under this name over another. Everything to which this name applies thus falls under that by which He — exalted be His praise — has sworn.
