also by the night as it passes. The Arabic word surā means traveling by night. The night itself moves on: it begins at sunset and ends at the break of dawn, advancing through time without stopping. It is therefore always passing. Allah swore by it because its hours contain acts of worship, such as the Maghrib and Isha prayers, the night vigil, the witr prayer, and other acts. The night also contains a momentous occasion: Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—descends each night to the lowest heaven when the final third of the night remains and says, “Who will ask Me so that I may give him? Who will call upon Me so that I may answer him? Who will seek My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?” (1) We therefore say that the final third of the night is a time when supplications are answered. A person should seize this opportunity, rise in worship before Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—perform the tahajjud prayer, and ask Allah—Glorified is He—for whatever good of this world and the Hereafter he wishes. Perhaps he will chance upon a time when supplications are answered and thereby benefit in this world and the Hereafter.

“Is there in that an oath for one endowed with reason?”—that is, one endowed with intellect.

“Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with ‘Ād—Iram of the lofty pillars?” The address here is directed to everyone to whom this glorious Book is addressed: all human beings, and indeed the jinn as well. That is: Have you, the one being addressed, not seen “how your Lord dealt with ‘Ād—Iram of the lofty pillars?” In other words, what did He do to them?

‘Ād was a well-known tribe in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. Allah, Exalted is He, sent Hūd—peace be upon him—to them, and he conveyed the message to them. Yet they behaved arrogantly and transgressed, saying, “Who is mightier than us in strength?” Allah, Exalted is He, said, “Did they not see that Allah, who created them, was mightier than them in strength? Yet they persisted in denying Our signs.” [Fussilat: 15]

They boasted of their strength, but Allah made clear that they were weak before His might. Thus He said, “Did they not see that Allah, who created them…” Allah knows best, but He used the phrase “who created them” to demonstrate their weakness and that He—Majestic and Exalted is He—is stronger than them, for the Creator is stronger than the created: “Allah, who created them, is mightier than them in strength, and they were