Tafseer of The Announcement · An-Naba · 78:11
And made the day for livelihood
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: وَجَعَلْنَا النَّهَارَ مَعَاشًا ("And We have made the day a time of livelihood"). He says: And We have made the day for you a light, so that you might disperse throughout it in pursuit of your livelihood, and move about in it for the interests of your worldly life, and seek therein the bounty of Allah. He, exalted be His praise, made the day — since it is a cause for His servants' moving about to seek their livelihood in it — into "livelihood" (maʿāsh), as in the words of the poet:
And the man of cares, when cares overtake him in the depth of darkness, his pillow does not sleep (2)
Thus he made the pillow that which does not sleep, while what is meant is the owner of the pillow.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: النَّهَارَ مَعَاشًا ("the day a time of livelihood") — he said: They seek therein of the bounty of Allah.
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Footnotes:
(2) One says: "ḥaḍara-hu al-hamm", "iḥtaḍara-hu", and "taḥaḍḍara-hu": it overtook him. The poet says: indeed, the man of cares, when cares pile up and crowd upon him, his pillow does not sleep — he means: the owner of his pillow, that is to say: himself.
