⦗12⦘ “We made the night and day two signs. We darkened the sign of the night and made the sign of the day illuminating, so that you might seek bounty from your Lord and know the number of years and the reckoning. And We have explained everything in full detail.”

Allah Most High says, “We made the night and day two signs”—that is, two signs indicating Allah’s perfect power, the vastness of His mercy, and that He alone is worthy of worship. “We darkened the sign of the night”—that is, We made it dark so that people might find tranquility and rest in it—“and made the sign of the day illuminating”—that is, radiant—“so that you might seek bounty from your Lord” through your livelihoods, crafts, commerce, and travels.

“And so that you might know,” through the succession of night and day and the changing phases of the moon, “the number of years and the reckoning,” upon which you may base whatever serves your interests.