that confirms the sense of “departed,” namely His words: “By the night as it retreats (33) and by the dawn as it breaks forth (34).” Thus, ʿasʿasa in the former verse would mean “departed,” matching—as you can see—the tenor of this verse in Sūrat al-Muddaththir. Yet what predominates in the Qur’an is that Allah swears by the night and its darkness when it arrives, and by the dawn and its brightness when it bursts forth, as in His saying, “By the night when it envelops (1) and the day when it shines forth (2),” and in, “By the day when it unveils her (3) and the night when it covers her (4),” and in, “By the morning brightness (1) and the night when it grows still (2),” and many similar passages. Preferring what is most common is stronger; this is the choice of Ibn Kathīr and is the apparent meaning, contrary to Ibn Jarīr. A fuller discussion of this, God willing, will come under Sūrat al-Takwīr.

Another example of polysemy in a verb is His saying, “Then those who disbelieve set up equals with their Lord” (1). The verb yaʿdilūna is shared between the Arabs’ expression ʿadala bihi ghayrahu—to make something equal with Him, illustrated by Jarīr’s verse:

“Is it Thaʿlaba of the horsemen, or Riyaḥ—
with whom you equated Ṭahiyyah and al-Khashāb?”

(i.e., you regarded them as their equals)—and their use of ʿadala to mean “to turn aside or deviate.” The first sense is borne out by His words: “By Allah, we were indeed in manifest error (97) when we equated you with the Lord of all worlds (98),” and by, “Yet among people are those who take rivals apart from Allah, loving them as they love Allah…” (2:165).

An instance of ambiguity produced by a shared particle is His saying, “Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their eyes is a covering.” The wāw in “and upon their hearing” and in “and over their eyes” can function either as a conjunctive to what precedes or as the opening of a new clause; however, He clarified in Sūrat al-Jāthiyah that