Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Fajr · 89:2
And [by] ten nights
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.
And His statement: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights") (89:2). The exegetes of the text differed concerning these ten nights, as to which nights they are. Some of them said: they are the ten nights of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, and Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Zurāra, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: indeed, the ten nights by which Allah swore are the first ten nights of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
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: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"): the ten days of the Feast of Sacrifice (al-Aḍḥā). He said: and it is said: the ten are the beginning of the year, from al-Muḥarram.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿUmar ibn Qays informed me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Murtafiʿ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"): the beginning of Dhū al-Ḥijja until the day of sacrifice (yawm al-naḥr).
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿAwf informed us, saying: Zurāra ibn Awfā related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAbbās said: indeed, the ten nights by which Allah swore are the first nights of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Masrūq: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: the ten of Dhū al-Ḥijja, and they are those which Allah promised to Moses — peace be upon him.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: the ten of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Agharr al-Minqarī, on the authority of Khalīfa ibn Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Naṣr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: the ten days of the Feast of Sacrifice.
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 on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: the ten of Dhū al-Ḥijja.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: we were told that they are the ten days of the Feast of Sacrifice.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: there is no deed in any night of the nights of the year more excellent than that in the ten nights, and they are the ten of Moses which Allah completed for him.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: concerning the ten nights he said: they are the most excellent days of the year.
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 word: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), namely: the ten days of the Feast of Sacrifice.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ("and by ten nights"), he said: the beginning of Dhū al-Ḥijja; and he said: they are the ten of al-Muḥarram, from the beginning thereof.
And the correct view concerning this, according to us, is: that they are the ten days of the Feast of Sacrifice, because of the consensus (ijmāʿ) of the authorities among the exegetes of the text concerning that, and because ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād al-Qaṭawānī related to me, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to me, saying: ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿUqba informed me, saying: Jubayr ibn Nuʿaym related to me, on the authority of Abū al-Zubayr, on the authority of Jābir, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: " وَالْفَجْرِ * وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ('By the dawn and by ten nights')", he said: "they are the ten of the Feast of Sacrifice."
