and with an ungeminated ṣād, as in His words: “He will burn in the Greatest Fire” (al-A'la 87:12). The others recited it as yuṣallā, with a dammah on the yā’, a fatḥah on the ṣād,(1) and a doubled lām, as in His words: “And his destination will be the Blazing Fire” (al-Waqi'ah 56:94), and, “Then into Hellfire cast him” (al-Haqqah 69:31).

“Indeed, he had lived joyfully among his people. (13) He thought he would never return. (14) Yes indeed! His Lord has always watched over him. (15) So I swear by the twilight, (16) by the night and what it gathers, (17) and by the moon when it is full: (18) you will surely pass from stage to stage. (19)”

“Indeed, he had lived joyfully among his people,” meaning in this world, following his whims and indulging his desires.

“He thought he would never return,” that is, that he would not return to Us and would not be resurrected. Then He says, “Yes indeed!” That is: the matter is not as he imagined; rather, he will return to Us and be resurrected. “Indeed, his Lord has always watched over him,” from the day He created him until He resurrects him.

Regarding His words, “So I swear by the twilight”: Mujahid said, “It is the entire day.” Ikrimah said, “What remains of the day.” Ibn Abbas and most Qur'an commentators said, “It is the redness that remains on the horizon after sunset.” Others said, “It is the whiteness that follows that redness.”

“By the night and what it gathers,” that is, what it gathers and draws together. It is said, “I gathered it,” and camels are described in this manner when they assemble and draw close together. The meaning is: by the night and all that it gathers and draws together of the creatures that had been scattered about during the day. For when night comes, everything returns to its resting place. Mansur narrated from Mujahid that he said: “Whatever it enfolds and over which it casts darkness.” Muqatil ibn Hayyan said: “It comes on with darkness or with a star.” Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: “Whatever is done during it.”

“And by the moon when it is full”: when it comes together, becomes even and complete, and its light is fully perfected; this occurs during the bright days of the lunar month. Qatadah said: “When it becomes round.” The word is derived from a root denoting gathering.

“You will surely pass”: the Meccan reciters, Hamzah, and al-Kisa'i read it with a fatḥah on the bā’, meaning: You, Muhammad, will surely ascend “from one stage to another.” Al-Sha'bi and Mujahid said: “From one heaven to another.” Al-Kalbi said: “That is, you will ascend through them.” It may also mean one degree after another and one rank after another in nearness to Allah Most High and elevation.

Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Nu'aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma'il narrated to us; Sa'id ibn al-Nadr narrated to us; Hushaym informed us; Abu Bishr informed us from Mujahid, who said that Ibn Abbas said: