Some scholars have said that the “ten nights” are the last ten nights of Ramadan, while others have said that they are the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah. Two opinions therefore emerge because the wording can legitimately point to either.

The same applies to His words, “by the even and the odd” (al-Fajr 3). Some interpreted “the odd” as Allah and “the even” as the creation, citing His statement, “And of everything We created two kinds” (al-Dhāriyāt 49) and the Prophet’s words, “Allah is Odd (witr)” 1. Others held that “the even and the odd” refers to number itself, for every created thing is classifiable as either even or odd; and the phrase comfortably bears both senses.

Prayer, too, is described as witr, for the night prayer ends with one rakʿah, making it odd, and the day prayers also end on an odd number. This is not negated by Ẓuhr’s four units and ʿAṣr’s four, because Maghrib is three; that odd rakʿah turns what precedes it into witr. For this reason the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “It is the odd prayer of the day” 2, and he ﷺ also said, “If one of you fears the break of dawn, let him pray a single rakʿah, and it will render what he has already prayed witr” 3.

The preponderant view is that the verse embraces both meanings, for whenever an āyah can carry two senses that do not contradict each other, it should be understood to include them.