(1–3) “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. By time! Indeed, mankind is surely in loss, except those who believe, perform righteous deeds, exhort one another to the truth, and exhort one another to patience.”

Allah Most High swears by time—which consists of night and day, within which the servants’ deeds and actions take place—that every human being is in loss. One who suffers loss is the opposite of one who gains.

Loss has numerous, varying degrees:

It may be absolute loss, as in the case of one who loses this world and the Hereafter, misses out on bliss, and deserves Hellfire.

A person may also suffer loss in some respects but not in others. Allah therefore declared every human being to be in loss except those possessing four qualities:

Faith in everything Allah has commanded people to believe in. Faith cannot exist without knowledge, for it springs from knowledge and cannot be complete without it.

Righteous deeds. This encompasses every outward and inward act of goodness connected with the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants (1), whether obligatory or recommended.

Exhorting one another to the truth, which consists of faith and righteous deeds. That is, they counsel one another to uphold it, encourage one another toward it, and inspire one another to pursue it.

Exhorting one another to patience in obeying Allah, refraining from disobedience to Allah, and enduring Allah’s painful decrees.

Through the first two qualities, a person (2) perfects himself; through the last two, he perfects others. By fulfilling all four, a person is saved from loss and attains the [great] gain.

Commentary on Sūrat al-Humazah

It is a Meccan surah