Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Fajr · 89:4
And [by] the night when it passes,
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 إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") says: and by the night when it passes on and departs. Of this one says: "sarā fulān laylan yasrī" — when someone travels by night.
And some of them said: by His statement وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") is meant the night of the gathering (jamʿ), and that is the night of Muzdalifa.
And in agreement with what we have said about this spoke the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of those who said that:
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: ʿUmar ibn Qays informed me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn al-Murtafiʿ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") — until one part of it makes the other depart.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") says: when it departs.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") he said: when it passes on.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") he said: and by the night when it passes on.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") says: when it passes on.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") he said: when it passes on.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") he said: the night when it passes on.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ("and by the night when it passes on") he said: the night of the gathering (jamʿ).
The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed in the recitation of this. Most of the reciters of Syria and Iraq read it يَسْرِ without the yāʾ. And a group of reciters read it with the retention of the yāʾ. The omission of the yāʾ in this is more pleasing to us, so that there may be agreement among the verse-endings, since these end in the rāʾ. And the Arabs sometimes omit the yāʾ in the nominative position such as this, contenting themselves with the kasra of the letter that precedes it. To that belongs the saying of the poet:
My neediness does not remain hidden, even for a day, and indeed, my nature conceals my poverty. (1)
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The footnotes:
(1) The verse belongs to the proof-verses of al-Farrāʾ in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (365). He said: and His statement: والليل إذا يسر ("and by the night when it passes on") — they mentioned that it is the night of Muzdalifa. The reciters read "yasrī" with the retention of the yāʾ, and "yasr" with its omission. And its omission is dearer to me, because of the agreement with the verse-endings, and because the Arabs sometimes omit the yāʾ and content themselves with the kasra of what precedes it. Someone recited to me:
Your two hands: a hand that does not hold back a dirham out of generosity, and another that with the sword apportions blood.
And another recited to me: "Laysa takhfā yasāratī …", the verse.
