here serves to draw attention. It has parallels, such as: “No! I swear by this city”; “No! I swear by the Day of Resurrection”; “No! I swear by the Lord of all points of sunrise”; and “No! I swear by what you see.” Regarding all these verses, the scholars say that lā serves to draw attention and that the oath is affirmative. The One swearing the oath is Allah, Glorified and Exalted, while that by which He swears in this verse is the twilight glow and what follows it in conjunction.

Should someone ask, “Why does Allah swear to the truth of His statement when He, Glorified is He, is truthful without any oath? Likewise, why does the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, swear to the truth of his statement when he too is truthful without any oath?”

We reply: An oath lends emphasis to speech. The Noble Quran was revealed in the Arabic tongue, and since the Arabs customarily emphasized their speech with oaths, this style accords with the Arabic tongue in which the Quran was revealed.

His words, “by the twilight glow,” refer to the redness that remains after sunset. When this redness disappears, the time for the sunset prayer ends and the time for the night prayer begins. This is the view of most scholars.

“And by the night and all that it envelops”—this too is part of that by which the oath is sworn and is coordinated with the twilight glow; that is: I swear by the night and all that it envelops. These, then, are two objects of the oath. “And by the night and all that it envelops”: the night is well known, while “all that it envelops” means all that it gathers, for the night gathers wild beasts, creeping creatures, and the like: they assemble, emerge, and come forth from their lairs and dwellings. It may also allude to people gathering with one another. “And by the moon when it becomes full”—the moon is well known.