Tafseer of The Morning Hours · Ad-Dhuhaa · 93:3
Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].
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: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى ("Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He hate [you]") — this is the response to the oath, and its meaning is: your Lord has not abandoned you, O Muḥammad, and has not hated you. It is said: وَمَا قَلَى ("nor does He hate"), and its meaning is: and He has not hated you, the speaker being content with the listener's understanding of the meaning, because it was preceded by His statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ ("He has not forsaken you"), so that it became known from it that the one to whom it is addressed is the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes 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 statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى , he said: it means: your Lord has not forsaken you and has not hated you.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى : he said: your Lord has not despised you and has not hated you; he said: and the "qālī" is the one who hates.
And it is mentioned that this sūrah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as a refutation by Allah of the Quraysh, on account of their saying to the Messenger of Allah, when the revelation ceased: "Muḥammad's Lord has forsaken him and despised him."
* Mention of the narration about that:
ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dahhān related to me, saying: Mufaḍḍal ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays al-ʿAbdī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbd Allāh, he said: when Jibrīl tarried in coming to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a woman from his family, or from his people, said: "The devil has forsaken Muḥammad", whereupon Allah revealed to him: وَالضُّحَى ... up to His statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Abū Jaʿfar said: "Ibn ʿAbd Allāh" is Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Bajalī.
Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Dāmaghānī and Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Qaṭṭān related to me, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, who heard Jundub al-Bajalī say: Jibrīl tarried in coming to the Prophet ﷺ until the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "Muḥammad's Lord has forsaken him", whereupon Allah revealed: وَالضُّحَى * وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى * مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, that he heard Jundub al-Bajalī say: a woman said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "I see that your companion has indeed forsaken you", whereupon this verse was revealed: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, he said: I heard Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh say: a woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "I see that your devil has indeed forsaken you", whereupon was revealed: وَالضُّحَى * وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى * مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Shaybānī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād, that Khadīja said to the Prophet ﷺ: "I see that your Lord has indeed despised you", whereupon Allah revealed: وَالضُّحَى * وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى * مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى , he said: Jibrīl, peace be upon him, tarried in coming to him with the revelation, whereupon some people — and they were at that time in Mecca — said: "We see that your companion has indeed despised you and forsaken you", whereupon Allah revealed what you hear: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى , he said: Jibrīl tarried in coming to him, whereupon the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "His Lord has despised him and forsaken him", whereupon Allah revealed: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى : Jibrīl stayed away from Muḥammad ﷺ, whereupon the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "His Lord has forsaken him and despised him", whereupon Allah revealed this verse.
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 مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى , he said: when the Qurʾān had been revealed to him, Jibrīl stayed away from him for several days, whereupon he was reproached for that, and the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "His Lord has forsaken him and despised him", whereupon Allah revealed: مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى .
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, he said: Jibrīl tarried in coming to the Prophet ﷺ, whereupon he became intensely grieved, and Khadīja said: "I see that your Lord has indeed despised you, given the grief we see in you", he said: whereupon was revealed: وَالضُّحَى وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى ... up to the end of it.
