Tafseer of The letter Qaaf · Qaaf · 50:40
And [in part] of the night exalt Him and after prostration.
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 ( وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ ) ("And during a part of the night, then glorify Him"). The exegetes differed concerning the glorification (tasbīḥ) that was commanded during the night. Some said: by this is meant the al-ʿatamah prayer (the late evening prayer).
* Mention of those who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement ( وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ ) ("And during a part of the night"): the al-ʿatamah prayer. And others said: it is the prayer in the night, at whatever time one prays.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmārah al-Asadī related to me, saying: ʿUbaydullāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ ) ("And during a part of the night, then glorify Him"), he said: during the whole night.
The view that Mujāhid gave concerning this is the closest to what is correct. That is because Allah, exalted is His praise, said: ( وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ ) ("And during a part of the night, then glorify Him") and did not specify any particular time of the night over another. And since that is so, it applies to all the hours of the night. And since the matter concerning it is as we have described, it is more fittingly a command to the maghrib and the ʿishāʾ prayers than a command to the al-ʿatamah prayer, because both of these are prayed in the night.
His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"). He says: glorify with the praise of your Lord after the prostrations of your prayer.
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the glorification (tasbīḥ) that Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to perform after the prostrations. Some said: by this is meant the prayer, namely the two rakaʿāt that one prays after the maghrib prayer.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasah related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, who said: I asked ʿAlī about "after the prostrations" (adbār al-sujūd), and he said: the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayyah related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn Sallām related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith. He said: I heard ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, say: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
He said: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn Ḍamrah, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them both, he said: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Muʾammil related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Aws ibn Khālid, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah, who said: "after the prostrations": two rakaʿāt after the maghrib prayer.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAlwān ibn Abī Mālik, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿIkrimah, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and Ibrāhīm ibn Muhājir, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muhājir, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us. He said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿbah related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muhājir, on the authority of Ibrāhīm concerning this verse ( وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) — وَإِدْبَارَ النُّجُومِ ("and at the vanishing of the stars") — he said: the two rakaʿāt before the morning and the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib. Shuʿbah said: I do not know which of the two is "after the prostrations," and I do not know which of the two is "at the vanishing of the stars."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: Mujāhid used to say: two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: they are the two prostrations (rakaʿāt) after the maghrib prayer.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Rishdīn ibn Kurayb, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: "O Ibn ʿAbbās, two rakaʿāt after the maghrib are 'after the prostrations.'"
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Abū Zurʿah informed us, and Hibatullāh ibn Rāshid, he said: Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed us, that he heard Abū Muʿāwiyah al-Bajalī from the people of Kūfah say: I heard Abā al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Bakrī say: I asked ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, about ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"), he said: they are two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to me, saying: Baqiyyah related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, saying: Ḥumayr ibn Yazīd al-Raḥabī related to us, on the authority of Kurayb ibn Yazīd al-Raḥabī; he said: and Jubayr ibn Nufayr used to walk to him, he said: when he prayed the two rakaʿāt before the fajr and the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib, he did so lightly (briefly), and he explained "the vanishing of the stars" and "after the prostrations."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasah related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīrah, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: they used to say: ( أَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
He said: ʿAnbasah related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muhājir, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"): the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: ʿAlī said: "after the prostrations": the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn al-Barr related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salamah related to us, saying: al-Awzāʿī was asked about the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib, he said: they are in the Book of Allah: ( فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("then glorify Him, also after the prostrations").
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatādah: ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: two rakaʿāt after the maghrib.
And others said: by His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations") is meant: the glorification after the obligatory prayers, not the prayer that is performed afterward.
* Mention of those who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayyah related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning ( فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("then glorify Him, also after the prostrations"), he said: it is the glorification (tasbīḥ) after the prayer.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"), he said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: the glorification. Ibn ʿAmr said in his narration: after all the prayers. And al-Ḥārith said in his narration: at the end of all the prayers.
And others said: they are the voluntary prayers (nawāfil) after the obligatory prayers.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"): the voluntary prayers (nawāfil).
And the most correct of the views concerning it is the view of the one who said: they are the two rakaʿāt after the maghrib, because of the agreement of the authoritative proof among the exegetes concerning that. And were it not for the agreement that I mentioned, I would hold the view that the correct opinion concerning it is what Ibn Zayd said, for Allah, exalted is His praise, did not designate by it any prayer over another, but made it general for the end of all the prayers, and said: "and after the prostrations," and no proof has come forth — neither from transmission nor from reason — that must obligatorily be accepted, that by it is meant the end of a particular prayer over another.
The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of His statement ( وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ) ("and after the prostrations"). The majority of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Kūfah, except for ʿĀṣim and al-Kisāʾī, read it ( وإدْبارِ السُّجُودِ ) with a kasrah on the alif, as a verbal noun (maṣdar) of "adbara — yudbiru — idbāran" (to turn away, to depart). And ʿĀṣim, al-Kisāʾī and Abū ʿAmr read it ( وأدْبارَ ) with a fatḥah on the alif, according to the manner of the plural of "dubur — adbār" (end — ends).
And the correct view, according to me, is the fatḥah, as the plural of "dubur."
