“And those who spend the night before their Lord, prostrating and standing in prayer (64); and those who say, ‘Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed, its punishment is ever adhering. Indeed, it is an evil place of settlement and residence’ (65–66); and those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but maintain a just balance between the two” (67).

His saying—exalted is He—“And those who spend the night before their Lord”: one may be said to have spent the night once night has come upon him, whether he sleeps or not. Thus, it is said, “So-and-so spent the night troubled.” The meaning is that they spend the night in prayer for their Lord, “prostrating,” upon their faces, “and standing,” upon their feet. Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Whoever prays two or more units of prayer after the final night prayer has spent the night prostrating and standing for Allah.” (1)

‘Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sam‘an informed us; Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar al-Rayani informed us; Humayd ibn Zanjawayh related to us; Abu Nu‘aym related to us from Sufyan, from ‘Uthman ibn Hakim, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi ‘Amrah, from ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever performs the ‘Isha’ prayer in congregation, it is as though he stood in prayer for half the night; and whoever performs the dawn prayer in congregation, it is as though he prayed the entire night.” (2)

His saying—glorified and exalted is He—“And those who say, ‘Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed, its punishment is ever adhering’”: that is, it is persistent and perpetual, inseparably attached to whichever disbeliever is punished by it. From this comes the term gharim, meaning a creditor, because of his demand for his due, his persistence against his debtor, and his continual attachment to him. Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi said: “Allah demanded from the disbelievers the price of His blessings, but they did not pay it; so He held them liable for it, and they remained in the Fire.” Al-Hasan said: “Every creditor eventually leaves his debtor, except Hell.” Gharam means an inescapable evil; and it was also said that gharaman means destruction.

“Indeed, it is an evil place of settlement and residence”: that is, an evil place in which to settle and remain.

“And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly”: Ibn Kathir and the scholars of Basra recited it as yaqattiru, with the initial letter vowelled with a fathah and the following letter with a kasrah; the scholars of Medina and Ibn ‘Amir recited it as yuqattiru, with the initial letter vowelled with a dammah and the following letter with a kasrah; while the others recited it as yaqturu, with the initial letter vowelled with a fathah and the following letter with a dammah. All are sound dialectal forms. It is said: uqattiru, qattara—with gemination—and qattara yuqattiru.

They differed over the meaning of extravagance and miserliness. Some said: “Extravagance is spending in disobedience to Allah, even if it is little; and miserliness is withholding what is due to Allah—exalted is He.” This was the view of Ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, and Ibn Jurayj. Regarding this verse, al-Hasan said: “They did not spend on acts of disobedience to Allah, nor did they withhold what Allah has made obligatory.” (3)