Tafseer of The Mount · At-Tur · 52:48
And be patient, [O Muhammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes. And exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord when you arise.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ (And be patient for the judgment of your Lord, for indeed you are before Our eyes; and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise) (48)
He, exalted is His mention, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: ( And be patient for the judgment of your Lord ) O Muḥammad, which He has pronounced concerning you, and carry out His command and His prohibition, and convey His messages. ( for indeed you are before Our eyes ) He, exalted is His praise, says: for indeed you are within Our sight; We see you and We see your deed, and We encompass you and protect you, so that none of the polytheists (mushrikīn) who wishes to do you harm may reach you.
His saying: ( and glorify the praise of your Lord ) The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the explanation of this. Some of them said: its meaning is: when you rise from your sleep, say: glory be to Allah and with His praise (subḥāna llāhi wa-bi-ḥamdihi).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, concerning His saying: ( and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise ) he said: at every awakening; he says when he wishes to rise: glory be to You and with Your praise.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ ʿAwf ibn Mālik ( and glorify the praise of your Lord ) he said: glory be to Allah and with His praise.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying ( and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise ) he said: when he rises for a prayer of the night or the day. And he recited يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلاةِ (O you who believe, when you rise for prayer) he said: from sleep. He mentioned it on the authority of his father.
And some of them said: no, its meaning is: when you rise for the obligatory prayer, say: glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ( and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise ) he said: when he rises for the prayer he says: glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, and blessed is Your name and there is no god but You.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying ( and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise ) [you rise] for the obligatory prayer.
The most correct of the two views concerning that is the saying of the one who says: its meaning is: and perform the prayer with the praise of your Lord when you rise from your sleep, and that is the midday nap (nawm al-qāʾila); and by it is meant precisely the noon prayer (ẓuhr).
I have called this saying the most correct of the two views because all are agreed that it is not obligatory to say in the prayer: "glory be to You and with Your praise"; and concerning what is transmitted from al-Ḍaḥḥāk about rising for the prayer: were the matter as al-Ḍaḥḥāk posited it, then it would be obligatory to say this, for His saying ( and glorify the praise of your Lord ) is a command from Allah, exalted is He, to glorification (tasbīḥ). And in the agreement of all that this is not obligatory lies the clear proof that its interpretation is other than that which al-Ḍaḥḥāk gave.
If someone were to say: perhaps by it is meant exhortation and guidance (al-nadb wa-l-irshād) — then it is answered: there is in the verse no indication of that, and no proof has arisen that by it is meant what al-Ḍaḥḥāk said. Thus the agreement of all, that glorification upon rising for the prayer is something in which the Muslims have free choice, serves for us as proof that by it is meant exhortation and guidance.
And we have said correctly: by it is meant rising from the midday nap, because no prayer becomes obligatory after any known time of the people's sleep, except after the night's sleep — and that is the dawn prayer (fajr) — or after the midday nap — and that is the noon prayer (ẓuhr). And since He, after His saying ( and glorify the praise of your Lord when you rise ), commanded glorification after the disappearance of the stars — and that is the two rakaʿāt of the fajr after the people rise from their night's sleep — it became known that the command to glorify after rising from sleep is a command to the prayer that becomes obligatory after rising from the midday nap, as we mentioned, and not after rising from the night's sleep.
