Tafseer of The Enshrouded One · Al-Muzzammil · 73:7
Indeed, for you by day is prolonged occupation.
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 words: "Indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation" — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: indeed, for you, O Muḥammad, there is during the day a long span of free space in which you may extend yourself and occupy yourself.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
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: "prolonged occupation (sabḥan ṭawīlan)" — a long span of free space; by it he means sleep.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: "Indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation", he said: a long time of enjoyment and occupation.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: "prolonged occupation", he said: a long span of free space.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words: "Indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation", he said: for your needs, so free up the night for your religion. They said: and this was when the night prayer was obligatory; then Allah granted a favor to the servants and lightened it and abrogated it. And he recited: "Stand in the night, except for a little"... to the end of the verse. Then He said: "Indeed, your Lord knows that you stand up less than two-thirds of the night" up to His words: "so recite what is easy of it" — the half of the night or a third of it. Then there came a more spacious and wider command; He abrogated the obligation from him and from his community, and said: "And during a part of the night keep vigil with it as a voluntary (devotion) for you; perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying concerning His words: "Indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation" — a long span of free space. And Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar read this with the "khāʾ" (as "sabkhan").
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin related to us, on the authority of Ghālib al-Laythī, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar "of Judhayla Qays", that he used to read "sabkhan ṭawīlan", he said: and that is sleep.
Abū Jaʿfar said: and "tasbīkh" is the spreading out and teasing apart of cotton and wool; one says to the woman: "sabbikhī quṭnaki", that is: tease it apart and spread it out. To this belongs the saying of al-Akhṭal:
They let them loose while they raised the dust, just as the striking of bowstrings makes tufts of cotton (sabāʾikh) fly up.
What He intended by His words "Indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation" is only: indeed, for you during the day there is space to fulfill your needs and those of your people. And "al-sabḥ" and "al-sabkh" are close to one another in meaning in this place.
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The footnotes:
(2) The verse is by al-Akhṭal, in which he mentions the dogs (al-Lisān: sabkh). He said: "tasbīkh" is the lightening. And one says: "O Allah, sabbikh from me the fever", that is: lighten it and make it easy; and for that reason tufts of cotton, when they have been struck, are called "sabāʾikh". To this belongs the saying of al-Akhṭal in which he mentions the dogs: "fa-arsalūhunna..." (the verse). And al-Farrāʾ said in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (folio 346): and His words "indeed, for you during the day there is prolonged occupation", he says: for you during the day there is (the opportunity) to fulfill your needs. And some have read "sabkhan", with the "khāʾ"; and "tasbīkh" is the spreading out of wool and cotton and what resembles them; one says: "sabbikhī quṭnaki". Abū al-ʿAbbās (Thaʿlab) said: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh (Ibn al-Aʿrābī) saying: Abū Ziyād al-Kilābī attended the session of al-Farrāʾ on this day, and al-Farrāʾ asked him about this word, and he said: the people of our desert say: "O Allah, sabbikh from him" for the sick person and the one bitten (by an animal) and the like.
