Surah al-Fajr is Makkan (1)

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

“By the dawn; by the ten nights; and by the even and the odd.” (1–3)

“By the dawn”: Allah, Most High, swore by the dawn. Abu Salih narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: It is the breaking of dawn each day; this was also the view of ‘Ikrimah. ‘Atiyyah narrated from him that it means the Fajr prayer. Qatadah said: It is the dawn of the first day of Muharram, from which the year begins. Al-Dahhak said: It is the dawn of Dhu al-Hijjah, because the ten nights are coupled (2) with it.

“By the ten nights”: It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that they are the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah. This was also the view of Mujahid, Qatadah, al-Dahhak, al-Suddi, and al-Kalbi.

Abu Ruq narrated from al-Dahhak that they are the final ten nights (3) of the month of Ramadan.

Abu Zabyan narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: They are the first ten days (4) of the month of Ramadan.

Yaman ibn Rabab said: They are the first ten days of Muharram, the tenth of which is the Day of ‘Ashura’ (5).

“By the even and the odd”: Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited al-witr with the letter wāw vowelled with kasrah, while the others recited it with fatḥah on the wāw,