Tafseer of The Declining Day, Epoch · Al-Asr · 103:2
Indeed, mankind is in loss,
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.
His statement: إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ ("Truly, man is in loss") — he says: truly, the son of Adam is in ruin and deficiency.
ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — used to read this as: إنَّ الإنْسانَ لَفِي خُسْر وإنه فيه إلى آخر الدهر ("Truly, man is in loss, and he is therein until the end of time").
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Wāṣil related to me; he said: Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn related to us; he said: Isrāʾīl reported to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr Dhī Murr, who said: I heard ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — read this statement as follows: وَالْعَصْرِ وَنَوَائِب الدَّهْرِ، إنَّ الإنْسانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ، وإنه فيه إلى آخر الدهر ("By time and the vicissitudes of fate — truly, man is in loss, and he is therein until the end of time").
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْر — in some readings it states: "and he is therein until the end of time."
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr Dhī Murr: that ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — read it as follows: وَالْعَصْرِ وَنَوَائِب الدَّهْرِ، إنَّ الإنْسانَ لَفِي خُسْر ("By time and the vicissitudes of fate — truly, man is in loss").
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ — except he who believes.
