Al-FajrThe Dawn

Al-fajr is the daybreak that follows every night without fail; 'the ten nights' are, according to Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid and others, the first ten of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, the most virtuous nights of the year.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

'The even and the odd' (al-shafʿ wa-l-watr) has been read as all of creation, which is either paired or single, and as a reference to the days of ḥajj themselves — a fitting pairing with the ten nights before it.

— Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān

'The night when it journeys on' (idhā yasri) describes the night's steady onward passage until it gives way to dawn — a sign, like the ten nights, of the order Allah has fixed in time.

— Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān

ʿĀd of Iram, 'possessors of lofty pillars', were a people of towering stature and building given no equal among the nations; Thamūd hewed the rock of al-Ḥijr into homes; Firʿawn is described as dhū al-awtād, 'possessor of the stakes', for how he tortured people by tying them down.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

'They all transgressed in the land and increased therein corruption' — the shared cause of their ruin was ṭughyān, transgressing all bounds, followed by spreading fasād, corruption, rather than mere disbelief alone.

— Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān

'Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful' (inna rabbaka la-bi-l-mirṣād) means He is watching every soul's deed, recording it, and will requite it — none escapes His notice, however delayed the reckoning seems.

— Ibn Kathīr on 89:14

Allah corrects the assumption that abundance is honour (ikrām) and scarcity is humiliation (ihānah): 'No! But you do not honour the orphan' — the true test is not what you are given, but what you do with it, especially toward the vulnerable.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

The four faults named — neglecting the orphan, not urging others to feed the poor, devouring inheritance indiscriminately (aklan lamman), and loving wealth ḥubban jamman (with excessive love) — together show a heart that has made provision itself the object of worship.

— Al-Saʿdī, Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān

Aklan lamman means consuming the inheritance of the weak — including orphans' shares — indiscriminately, whether lawful or unlawful, gathering it all together without regard for right and wrong.

— Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān

'And your Lord comes, and the angels, rank upon rank' (89:22) is affirmed as a true attribute befitting Allah's majesty, without likening it to creation (bi-lā takyīf wa-lā tamthīl); on that Day man will say 'if only I had sent ahead for my life' but remembrance will not benefit him.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

Al-nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah is the soul that has found tranquillity through certainty (yaqīn) and firm faith, content with Allah as Lord, His decree, His religion, and the reward He has prepared — hence the call 'return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing.'

— Al-Saʿdī, Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān

The address 'irjiʿī ilā rabbik' (return to your Lord) is understood to be spoken to the believing soul both at the moment of death and again on the Day of Resurrection — a call repeated to reassure her at each transition.

— Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān