Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:18
And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness,
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.
And His words وَبِالأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ("and in the last hours of the night they ask for forgiveness") (51:18). The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) disagree about its interpretation. Some of them said: the meaning is: and in the last hours of the night (al-asḥār) they perform the prayer.
* Mention of who said that:
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words وَبِالأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ("and in the last hours of the night they ask for forgiveness"), he says: they rise and perform the prayer. He says: they used to rise and sleep, just as Allah said to Muḥammad ﷺ: إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ تَقُومُ أَدْنَى مِنْ ثُلُثَيِ اللَّيْلِ وَنِصْفَهُ ("Truly your Lord knows that you keep watch for slightly less than two-thirds of the night and [sometimes] half of it") — this [refers to] sleep, and this to keeping watch — وَطَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ مَعَكَ ("and [also] a group of those who are with you") rise thus, a third and a half and two-thirds [of the night]; he says: they sleep and they keep watch.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jabala ibn Suḥaym, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning His words وَبِالأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ("and in the last hours of the night they ask for forgiveness"), he said: they perform 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 — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَبِالأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ("and in the last hours of the night they ask for forgiveness"), he said: they perform the prayer.
And others said: no, what is meant by it is that they deferred asking forgiveness for their sins until the last hour of the night (al-saḥar).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: they prolonged the prayer and were energetic, until the asking for forgiveness took place in the last hour of the night.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words وَبِالأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ ("and in the last hours of the night they ask for forgiveness"), he said: they are the believers. He said: and it has reached us that the prophet of Allah, Yaʿqūb (Jacob) ﷺ, when they asked him to ask forgiveness for them — يَا أَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا ("O our father, ask forgiveness for our sins") — answered: قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّي ("He said: I shall ask my Lord forgiveness for you"). He said: some scholars said: he deferred the asking for forgiveness until the last hour of the night. And he said: some scholars mentioned that the hour at which the gates of Paradise are opened is the last hour of the night (al-saḥar).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Ibn Zayd say: al-saḥar is the last sixth part of the night.
