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Recitation: Sa'ad Al
Ghamdi
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Introduction and Summary
The chronology of this Surah has
no significance. It is probably Makkan, though some hold that it was revealed in
Madinah.
The subject matter is the mystic
Night of Power (or Honour), in which revelation comes down to a benighted
world---it may be to the wonderful Cosmos of an individual---and transforms the
conflict of wrongdoing into Peace and Harmony---through the agency of the
angelic host, representing the spiritual powers of the Mercy of Allah.
C.277 (The running Commentary, in
Rhythmic Prose)
Blessed indeed is the
Night of Power!---
When the Mercy of
Allah's Revelation breaks through
The darkness of the
human soul!
All the Powers, of
the world divine,
Speed on their mystic
Message of Mercy,
By Allah's command,
and bless every nook
And corner of the
heart! All jars
Are stilled in the
reign supreme of Peace.
Until this mortal
night gives place
To the glorious day
of an immoral world!
إِنَّا
أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
﴿١﴾
1. We
have indeed revealed this
(Message)
in the night of
Power:
C6217. Cf.
44::3 and
n. 4690.
The 23rd, 25th or
27th night of Ramadan, as well as other nights, have been suggested as the Night
of Power. See, however, the Introduction to this Surah.
It is best to take this
in conjunction with verse 3 below,
which says that the Night of Power is better than a thousand Months.
It transcends Time: for it is
Allah's Power dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, by his Revelation, in every
kind of affair. (R).
وَمَا
أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ
﴿٢﴾
2. And
what will explain to thee what the Night of Power is?
لَيْلَةُ
الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ
﴿٣﴾
3. The
Night of Power is better than a thousand Months.
C6218. "A thousand"
must be taken in an indefinite sense; as denoting a very long period of time.
Cf.
notes 3632 and
3634 to 32:4-5, and
n. 5678 to 70:4.
This does not refer to our ideas
of time, but to "timeless Time".
One moment of enlightenment under
Allah's Light is better than thousands of months or years of animal life, and
such a moment converts the night of darkness into a period of spiritual glory.
تَنَزَّلُ
الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ
﴿٤﴾
4. Therein
come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission, on every errand:
C6219.
The Spirit:
usually understood to be the angel Gabriel. (R).
سَلَامٌ
هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ
﴿٥﴾
5. Peace! This
until the rise of Morn!
C6220. When the
Night of spiritual darkness is dissipated by the glory of Allah, a wonderful
Peace and a sense of Security arise in the soul. And this lasts on until this
life closes, and the glorious Day of the new world dawns, when everything will
be on a different plane, and the chequered nights and days of this world will be
even less than a dream.
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