Tafseer of The Splitting Open · Al-Inshiqaaq · 84:17
And [by] the night and what it envelops
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: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ ("By the night and what it gathers"). He says: by the night and all that is brought together within it of living creatures that come to rest and stillness — those that fly or crawl by day. Of this one says: wasaqtuhu, asiquhu, wasqan ("I gathered it, I gather it, a gathering"). From this also comes ṭaʿām mawsūq ("gathered provisions"), that is, what is stored in sacks or a vessel; and from this comes the wasq, which is the large quantity of provisions brought together that is measured or weighed — it is said that it is sixty ṣāʿ, and with this meaning the report from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has likewise been transmitted.
And in agreement with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words: وَمَا وَسَقَ — he says: and what it gathers.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning this verse وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what it gathers. And Ibn ʿAbbās adduced [as a witness a line of poetry]:
"mustawsiqātin law yajidna sāʾiqā" ("[she-camels] driven together, if only they would find a driver").
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, saying: Ḥafṣ asked al-Ḥasan about his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what it gathers.
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 of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what it gathers. He says: what shelters within it of crawling creatures.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ : and what it enshrouds.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what it darkens and what enters into it. And Ibn ʿAbbās adduced [a line of poetry]:
"mustawsiqātin law yajidna ḥādiyā" ("[she-camels] driven together, if only they would find a leader").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he says: and what it gathers of stars or crawling creatures.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what it gathers.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what is brought together, in which the things come together that Allah gathers and that take refuge in it, and the things that are present in it during the night and not during the day — what is gathered of that within which is found that which takes refuge in it; that belongs to what it gathers.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he says: what it enshrouds.
He [Ibn Ḥumayd] said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: and what enters into it.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ : and what it gathers.
He [Wakīʿ] said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَمَا وَسَقَ : and what it gathers. Have you not heard the words of the poet:
"mustawsiqātin law yajidna sāʾiqā" ("[she-camels] driven together, if only they would find a driver").
Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: what it encompasses when the night comes.
And others said: the meaning of this is: and what it drives onward.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAbdallāh ibn Aḥmad al-Marwazī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Ḥusayn related to us, saying: I heard ʿIkrima when he was asked about وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: what it drives onward of darkness; when it is night, everything goes to its place of refuge.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he says: what it drives onward of darkness; when the night comes, it drives everything onward to its place of refuge.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , he said: what it drives along with it of darkness when it sets in.
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, concerning his words: وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ , this means: and what the night drives onward of things that the stars gather. And one also says: by the night and what it gathers.