Tafseer of The Announcement · An-Naba · 78:10
And made the night as clothing
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.
وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا ("and We have made the night a covering") — the Exalted, whose renown be praised, says: and We have made the night a wrapping for you, whose blackness envelops you and whose darkness covers you, just as the garment covers the one who wears it, so that you may come to rest therein and cease from going about for the occupations for which you went about during the day. This is also attested by the saying of the poet:
"And when they clothed themselves in the night" — or: "when it set in" — "with something of the pricking up of their ears, while he plods on heavily."
By his words "they clothed themselves in the night" he means: they entered into its blackness and concealed themselves in it.
In agreement with what we have said about this, the interpreters (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qatāda: وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا ("and We have made the night a covering") — he said: a refuge of rest.
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Footnotes:
(1) The author cited this verse earlier in volume (11:146); it is found in the Dīwān of Dhū al-Rumma. The transmission there has "jāniḥ" instead of "dāliḥ". "Al-dāliḥ" is he who walks with his burden while it weighs heavily upon him. (See the Dīwān of Dhū al-Rumma 108.)
