Sūrah al-Layl is the 92nd Sūrah in the Quran. It is also a Makkan Sūrah and has twenty one verses. Its focus is also on contrasting oaths, and the two paths in life.
Sūrah al-Layl also begins with oaths on contrasting opposites, the night and the day, and the male and the female. This is followed by showcasing the two paths in life, the path towards ease i.e. Paradise, and the path towards hardship i.e. Hellfire.
Sūrah al-Layl ends with an example of someone who chose the path of guidance.
وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰ
By the night as it envelops : its darkness falling on creation, and man takes his repose, resting from toil and labour.
وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّىٰ
And by the day as it appears in brightness: illuminating creation. In its light, people leave their houses seeking their livelihood.
وَمَا خَلَقَ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَىٰ
And by Him Who created male and female: His creating every species in pairs, male and female. In order for them to propagate, He has led one to be naturally attracted to the other and has made the male and female of each species compatible with the other,
فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّـهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ}المؤمنون:
“So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators.}[Al-Muminoon 23: 14”
Look at these amazing things Allah ‘azza wa jallcreated: the darkness of the night and the brightness of the day and the male and female as two opposites, not only in humans but in animals and plants as well. Know that no matter how dark the night, the brightness of the day will follow, and let this inspire you to battle your problems and stress, knowing that after difficulty comes ease.
Reflecting on night and day and female and male qualities in creation should humble you and make you realize two things: there is a creator, and this creator fully deserves to be obeyed.
إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ
Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes): Sa’aykum comes from sa’ee, which means walking or pacing fast, and when something important is concerning you, you walk fast.
No one lives aimlessly, but we should be careful of the way in which we use our divine talents and powers in order to understand if it is for good or evil. Allah says: “Among you are some who desire this world, and among you are some who desire the Hereafter”. (Al-Imran:152)
What do your deeds show of what is important to you? There are huge differences in the deeds and works of people, the energy spent in them, and their goals; are they for Allah ‘azza wa jall or for a temporary objective in this world?
Whatever you do for Allah will stay forever. In daily life we sometimes seem to lose track of the purpose of things we do and we forget about making our intention for Allah in both big and small daily deeds and efforts. For example, if you go to work in order to provide for your family and thereby please Allah, cook for your family for the sake of Allah, and even sleep reviving the sunan of sleeping and in order to be stronger to worship, you are transforming all your “wordly” deeds into deeds for His sake!
A good tip to keep renewing your emaan and intention is to repeatedly say during the day: laailaaha illAllah.
The Quran divided people into teo categories:
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَىٰ وَاتَّقَىٰ
Then as for him who gives (in charity) and fears (Allah),"
اتَّقُوا النَّارَ وَلَوْ بِشِقِّ تَمْرَةٍ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَبِكَلِمَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Guard yourself from the Hellfire, even with half of a date in charity. If one cannot find it, then with a kind word.”
As for taqwa: It is the state of consciousness to be mindful of Allah at all times and achieve His maximum pleasure at all times.
It was narrated authentically from Ali Ibn AbiTaalib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said:
"Taqwa is:
وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَىٰ
"And (in all sincerity) testifies to the Best,": 'the faith in Islam' which is the best religion.
فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَىٰ
"We will ease him to the state of ease.”
of what he has been commanded subsuming acts of worship linked to wealth: zakat, charity, expiation and spending in ways of goodness; and acts of worship linked to the body: prayer, fast etc.; and those acts of worship that combine both: Hajj, Umrah etc. “and is mindful of Allah” by staying away from all that Allah prohibited. “And believes in the Good,” i.e. believes in 'None has the right to be worshipped save Allah' and all its related beliefs and requirements. “We will pave his way to Ease,” we will smooth his affair, and make the performance of good and the avoidance of evil easy for him. This is because he met the requirements for ease so Allah smoothed his way to that ease.
the religion is religion of ease as allah says : Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship (Al-Baqara:185).
Be motivated out of fear of His punishment as well as out of good hope in His reward, and let this balance be reflected in all your efforts.
the path of righteousness in this Sūrah is described as the path of charity, piety and true belief. Allah says that whoever follows that path in life, Allah will make easy for him the path towards ease. Ease in this verse refers to Paradise. It does not mean that we will not face challenges in this world.Ratherthe beauty of Islam helps us cope with the challenges of life, bringing with it ease in the form of Tawakul, Sabr and Contentment. But the path of righteousness ends with eternal ease in Paradise. This is the path we must choose to walk in life.
وَأَمَّا مَن بَخِلَ وَاسْتَغْنَ
"But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient,”
وَكَذَّبَ بِالْحُسْنَىٰ
"And gives the lie to the Best,": the recompense in the abode of the Hereafter.
فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَىٰ
"We will ease him to the path of affliction.”
leaving off the obligatory and recommended spending, and not permitting his self to fulfil its obligations to Allah “and deems himself self-sufficient,” in no need of Allah. When people have power and wealth they often think they are not in need of Allah because in their mind wealth represents power. One enormous disease therefore is istaghnaa— thinking we are free of need. In your daily life, keep reminding yourself you need Allah ‘azza wa jall for everything, and stay humble no matter how much money you earn, how many friends you have, or how beautiful you are.
signifying disbelief in the rewards of the Next World or rejecting the religion and the good ways of the prophets.
They will be involved in hardships in this world and the next.
We shall facilitate for him the hard ways. He will be deprived of the grace to follow the way of good, gates of evil will be opened up for him, means and resources for the same will be provided for him, doing evil will become easy, and doing good will become toilsome and risky for him. This same theme has been expressed at another place in the Quran, thus: “So whomever Allah wills to guide aright, He makes his breast wide open to Islam, and whomever He wills to let go astray, he makes his breast narrow and squeezes it so tightly that (at the very idea of Islam) he begins to feel as though his soul were climbing up towards the sky. (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat125). At another place it has been said: “No doubt, Salat is a hard task but not for the obedient servants” (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 46). And about the hypocrites it has been said: When they come to offer the Salat, they come reluctantly and they spend in the way of Allah with unwilling hearts. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 54), and that: There are such among them who regard what they spend in the way of Allah as a penalty. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 98).
Allah warns that this path leads to the opposite end, difficulty for all eternity in Hell.
وَمَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُ مَالُهُ إِذَا تَرَدَّىٰ
“and his wealth shall be of no avail to him when he perishes.” In other words it means that he has to die one day and leave behind in the world whatever he had amassed for his ease and enjoyment. If he did not earn and send forward something for the Hereafter, what would this wealth avail him? He will not take his palatial residence, his majestic conveyance, his property and wealth into the grave.
إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا لَلْهُدَىٰ
“Verily We take upon Ourselves to guide,": Know that guidance comes from Allah only.
Some believers become proud of their good deeds. Know that you cannot get guidance by deeds alone,you always have to keep begging Allah for hidaayah (guidance). That’s why in Surah Al Fatiha we Muslims keep saying: ihdinas siraatalmustaqeem– guide us on the straight path. Say this with your heart each time you pray!
In Quran, Allah Almighty explained that guidance is only with him:
Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.(Al-Qasas:56)
وَإِنَّ لَنَا لَلْآخِرَةَ وَالْأُولَىٰ
“And certainly to Us (belongs the End) the Hereafter and (the Beginning) the first (life).”: We alone are Master of both the worlds. If you seek the world, We alone can grant it; and if you seek the well being of the Hereafter, We alone have the power to bestow it too. “Whoever seeks the harvest of the Hereafter, We do increase his harvest; and whoever seeks the harvest of this world, We do give him of it here, but in the Hereafter he will have no share at all.” (E.N. 37 of Surah Ash-Shura).
فَأَنذَرْتُكُمْ نَارًا تَلَظَّىٰ
“Therefore, I warn you of a Fire that blazes.":
لَا يَصْلَاهَا إِلَّا الْأَشْقَى
"None shall reach it but the wretched,”
الَّذِي كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ
"Who gives the lie (to truth) and turns away,"
Allah, in His infinite Mercy, has provided full guidance to His creatures. Man, having mental and spiritual faculties and talents, with all the inspired prophets and heavenly Books, and all Divine signs and possibilities of guidance at his disposal, rejects the truth and goes astray. So, such a person is surely the clear example of the reprobate.
And among them will be the wretched and the prosperous. As for those who were [destined to be] wretched, they will be in the Fire. For them therein is [violent] exhaling and inhaling. (Hud:105-106).
once the Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: ‘All of my followers will enter Paradise on the Day of Judgment except for whoever refuses.’ He was asked, ‘Who would refuse, O Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘Whoever obeys me, he will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me, then he has refused.‘ [Al-Bukhaari] Make an effort to study the sunnah and to stick to it, and ask Allah to protect you from the fire each day.
وَسَيُجَنَّبُهَا الْأَتْقَى
"And from which shall the most devoted to Allah be kept away.”
الَّذِي يُؤْتِي مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّىٰ
"He who gives away his wealth, purifying himself"
meaning, he spends his wealth in obedience of his Lord in order to purify himself, his wealth and whatever Allah has bestowed upon him of religion and worldly things.
وَمَا لِأَحَدٍ عِندَهُ مِن نِّعْمَةٍ تُجْزَىٰ
“And who has (in mind) no favor from anyone to be paid back”: meaning, giving his wealth is not done so that he may gain some favor from someone wherein they return some good to him, and therefore he gives to get something in return. He only spends his wealth
إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ الْأَعْلَىٰ
“to seek the Face of his Lord, the Most High”: meaning, hoping to attain the blessing of seeing Him in the final abode in the Gardens of Paradise. Allah then says,
وَلَسَوْفَ يَرْضَىٰ
“He, surely, will be pleased”: He will certainly be well-pleased,” with what Allah will grant him of favour and reward.
Don’t expect a reward from anyone but Allah.
I can’t believe I did all of that for him and he treats me like this? I went out of my way for her, and she doesn’t even do this for me?
Instead of expecting rewards from others, try to focus on your reward with Allah whenever you do something for others so you won’t get disappointed so quickly. Only Allah is Ash-Shakoor, The Most Appreciative of your intentions and deeds!
May Allah ‘azza wa jall enable us to live by the guidance of the Quran, ameen.
Many of the scholars of Tafsir have mentioned that these Ayat were revealed about Abu Bakr As-Siddiq
he (Abu Bakr) was the first and foremost of this Ummah to have all of these characteristics and other praiseworthy characteristics as well. For verily, he was truthful, pious, generous, charitable, and he always spent his wealth in obedience of His Master (Allah) and in aiding the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
"Abu Bakr used to free servants upon their acceptance of Islam in Makkah. He used to free the elderly and the women when they accepted Islam. So his father said to him, 'O my son! I see that you are freeing people who are weak. But if you freed strong men they could stand with you, defend you and protect you.' Abu Bakr replied, 'O my father! I only want – what is with Allah.
O Lord! Give all of us the success of this world and the hereafter
O Lord! Cause the purity of our intention to be increased.
O Lord! We seek your Grace and Mercy so that Youwill be well-pleased with us and we will be well pleased, too.
