Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz Amma - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (307)

Commentary on Sūrat al-Asr (Time)

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

“By time! Surely the human being is in loss, except those who believe, do righteous deeds, urge one another to the truth, and urge one another to patience.”

The opening formula has already been discussed.

Allah—Glorious and Exalted is He—says: “By time! Surely the human being is in loss.” Allah Most High swears by time. It has been said that “time” here refers to the latter part of the day, because it is the best part of the day. The afternoon prayer is called the middle prayer—that is, the most excellent prayer—as the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—called it (1).

It has also been said that al-asr means time in general, and this is the more correct view. Allah swears by it because it encompasses changing circumstances, shifting conditions, the changing fortunes of people, and other things witnessed in the present and related about times beyond our own. Thus, al-asr is the time through which creation lives, and its periods vary between hardship and ease, war and peace, health and illness, righteous deeds and evil deeds, and all else that is known to everyone. Allah swears by it when declaring: “Surely the human being is in loss.” The expression “the human being” is general here, for it denotes humankind as a whole. The indication concerning the expression “the human being,” which

(1) Recorded by al-Bukhārī, Book of Jihad and Military Expeditions, chapter “Supplication for the Polytheists to Be Defeated and Shaken” (2931), and by Muslim, Book of Mosques, chapter “Evidence for Those Who Hold That the Middle Prayer Is the Afternoon Prayer” (628), (206).

تفسير سورة العصر ﴿بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ﴾ ﴿وَالْعَصْرِ * إِنَّ الإِنسَنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ * إِلَاّ الَّذِينَءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّلِحَتِ وَتَوَاصَوْاْ بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْاْ بِالصَّبْرِ﴾ . البسملة تقدم الكلام عليها. يقول الله ﷿: ﴿والعصر. إن الإنسان لفي خسر﴾ أقسم الله تعالى بالعصر، والعصر قيل: إن المراد به آخر النهار، لأن آخر النهار أفضله، وصلاة العصر تسمى الصلاة الوسطى، أي: الفضلى كما سماها النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم بذلك (١) . وقيل: إن العصر هو الزمان. وهذا هو الأصح أقسم الله به لما يقع فيه من اختلاف الأحوال، وتقلبات الأمور، ومداولة الأيام بين الناس وغير ذلك مما هو مشاهد في الحاضر، ومتحدث عنه في الغائب. فالعصر هو الزمان الذي يعيشه الخلق، وتختلف أوقاته شدة ورخاء، وحرباً وسلماً، وصحة ومرضاً، وعملاً صالحاً وعملاً سيئاً إلى غير ذلك مما هو معلوم للجميع. أقسم الله به على قوله: ﴿إن الإنسان لفي خسر﴾ والإنسان هنا عام، لأن المراد به الجنس، وعلامة الإنسان الذي

(١) أخرجه البخاري كتاب الجهاد والسير باب الدعاء على المشركين بالهزيمة والزلزلة (٢٩٣١) ومسلم كتاب المساجد باب الدليل لمن قال: الصلاة الوسطى هي صلاة العصر (٦٢٨) (٢٠٦) ..