73- Surat Almuzzammil/Tafseer
20 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Ya-ayyuha al-muzzammil (1).
O You who wraps Himself!.
Qumi al-laila illa qaleela (2).
Stand at night, except for a little.
Nisfahu awi enqus minhu qaleela (3).
Half of it, or Subtract from it a little.
Aww zid alayhi wa-ratteli Al-qurana tarteela (4).
Or add to it, and Recite the Quran with measured recitation.
Inna sa-nulqi alayka qawlan thaqeela (5).
Indeed, We will cast upon You a heavy word.
Inna nashe-ata al-laili hiya ashaddu wat-an wa aqwamu qeela (6).
Indeed, rising by night is more effective for concurrence, and more suitable for words.
Inna laka fee al-nahari sabhan taweela (7).
Indeed, for You by day is prolonged occupation.
Wa-zkuri esma Rabbika wa tabattal ilayhi tabteela (8).
And Remember the Name of Your Lord, and Devote Yourself to Him with exclusive devotion.
Rabbu almashriqi wa al-maghribi la ilaha illa huwa fa-ttakhizhu wakeela (9).
The Lord of the east and the west, there is no God but He, so Take Him as Guardian.
Wa-sbir ala ma yaquluna wa-hjurhum hajran jameela (10).
And Be patient over what they say, and Avoid them with gracious avoidance.
Wa zarni wal-mukazzibeena auli al-na'mati wa mahhilhum qaleela (11).
And Leave Me with the deniers, possessors of plenty, and Give them respite for a while. .
Inna ladayna ankalan wa jaheema (12).
Indeed, We have shackles, and Hell.
Wa ta-aman za ghussatin wa azaban aleema (13).
And food that chokes and a painful punishment.
Yawma tarjufu al-ardu wa al-jibalu wa kanati aljibalu kathiban maheela (14).
On the day when the earth and the mountains will quake, and the mountains will become a heap of sand, pouring down.
Inna arsalna ilaykum rasulan shahidan alaykum ka-ma arsalna ila Fir'awna rasula (15).
Indeed, We have sent to you a Messenger, as a witness upon you as We sent to Pharaoh a Messenger.
Fa-asa Fir'awnu al-rasula fa-akhaznahu akhzan wabeela (16).
But Pharaoh disobeyed the Messenger, so We seized him a severe seizure.
Fa-kayfa tattaquna in kafartum yawman yaj-alu a-wildana sheeba (17).
Then how will you guard yourselves, if you disbelieve, a day that will make the children gray-headed.
Alsamau munfatirun behi kana wa'duhu maf-oula (18).
The sky will break apart therefrom, His promise is to be fulfilled.
Inna hazihi tazkiratun fa-man shaa ettakhaza ila Rabbihi sabeela (19).
Indeed, this is a reminder, so whomever wills may take to his Lord a way.
Inna Rabbaka ya'lamu annaka taqumu adna men thuluthayi al-laili wa nisfahu wa thuluthahu wa ta-efatun mena allazina ma-aka wa Allahu youqaddiru al-laila wa al-nahara alima an lan tuhsuhu fa-taba alaykum fa-qra'u ma tayassara mena al-qurani alima an sayakunu minkum marda wa akharuna yadribuna fee al-ardi yabtaghuna men fadli illahi wa akharuna youqatiluna fee sabeeli illahi fa-qra'u ma tayassara minhu wa aqeemu alsalata wa atu alzakata wa aqridu Allaha qardan hasanan wa ma tuqaddimu li-anfusikum men khayrin tajiduhu inda Allahi huwa khayran wa a'zama ajran wa-staghfiru Allaha inna Allaha Ghafurun Raheem (20).
Indeed, Your Lord knows that You stand less than two-thirds of the night and half of it and a third of it and a group of those who are with you, and Allah determines the night and the day. He knows that you will not count it, then He turned to you in forgiveness, so Recite as much of the Quran as is easy possible, He knows that there will be among you those who are ill, and others travelling in the land seeking the bounty of Allah, and others fighting in the way of Allah, so Recite as much of it as is easy possible, and Establish the prayer, and Give the Zakah (Charity), and Loan Allah a goodly loan, and whatever you send forth for yourselves of good, you will find it with Allah is better and greater in reward, and seek forgiveness of Allah, indeed, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most merciful.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Almuzzammil was a command from Allah to His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) to pray at night, to read the Holy Quran and to be patient with the harm of the polytheists, and then Allah eased it for the Muslims and made the night prayer a voluntary prayer for He knows the state of His servants from the sick, those who seek their livelihood, and those who fight in the way of Allah. And it bears likeness of Surat Almuddaththir as a threat from Allah to the polytheists of a painful punishment awaits them as well as some scenes of the day of resurrection.
Allah commanded His messenger in the first four verses and says "O You! who wraps Himself, stand at night, except a little, half of it, or lessen from it a little, or add to it, and recite the Quran with a measured recitation", where Allah commanded Him in the state He was in to pray the night prayer (Alqiyam), and this command was for Him Alone, and this similar to Aya (79) of Surat Alisraa "And from part of the night, pray with it as additional worship for you", and Allah gave him the choice between praying half of the night with an increase or a decrease, and there is nothing wrong with that, and He commanded him to recite the Quran with a measured recitation, that is, do not to read the Quran quickly, but rather read it slowly and clearly while reflecting on the meanings of it.
So Our Prophet used to pray at night and as mentioned in narration of Urwa "That was informed by Aisha, Allah's Messenger went out in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque and some men prayed behind Him, in the morning , the people spoke about it, and then a large number of them gathered and prayed behind Him on the second night, in the next morning the people again talked about it and on the third night the mosque was full with a large number of people, Allah's Messenger came out and the people prayed behind Him. On the fourth night the mosque was overwhelmed with people and could not accommodate them, but the Prophet came out only for the morning prayer (Alfajr), when the morning prayer was finished, He addressed the people and said: "Amma ba'du: to proceed, your presence was not hidden from Me, but I was afraid lest the night prayer (Qiyam) should be enjoined on you, and you might not be able to carry it on". So Allah's Messenger died and the situation remained like that (individual prayer).
Then Allah says to His Messenger in the next three verses (5-7) "Indeed, We will cast upon You a heavy saying, indeed, the rising at the night is more straight, and more suitable for word, indeed, for You in the day, is a long emptiness", where the revelation is a heavy word whether it is related to the Holy Quran in general or to the night prayer, the commitment to both is heavy, and Allah says that the the rising for the prayer at night is more straight, and more suitable for correct reading and supplication. So when Our Prophet was asked which prayer is best after the obligatory (Fard), He said: the night prayer. And as mentioned above, the night prayer was a command to Our Prophet alone, so Allah says to Him that He has in the day a long emptiness for sleep or for the needs of the day.
And then Allah commanded Him in the next two verses (8,9) and says "And remember the name of Your Lord, and devote to Him with devotion, The Lord of the east and the west, there is no God but He, so take Him as a Guardian", that is, when you finish fulfilling the need of the day Do more remembrance of Allah, and devote yourself to worshipping Him alone and this is similar to the last two verses of Surat Alsharh (7,8) "So when you have finished, strive hard, and to Your Lord direct Your intention", then Allah describes Himself and says that He is The Lord of the east and the west, there is no God but He, and commanded our Prophet to take Him a disposer of all of His affairs, and to rely upon Him alone, and these two commands of worshiping Allah, and relying upon Him alone has been mentioned in the last verse of Surat Hud Aya (123) "So worship Him and rely upon Him".
And Allah commanded Him as well in Aya (10) to be patient over what the pagans of Quraish say about Him and the Holy Quran, and to avoid them a beautiful avoidance, and this command was clear in Surat Alkafirun when Allah commanded Him to say to them "For you is your religion, and for Me is my religion", and it was said that this verse was abrogated later when Allah commanded the believers to fight the polytheists in more than one verse as in Surat Alhajj Aya (39), Surat Altawbah Aya (36), and Surat Alanfal Aya (57), where Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said in narration of Ibn Umar "I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, and offer the prayers perfectly, and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform that, then they save their lives and property from Me except for Islamic laws, and then their reckoning will be done by Allah" (Sahih Albukhari 25).
And then Allah threatens the polytheists in the next four verses (11-14) and said leave Me O Muhammad with the deniers those I granted them with wealth, luxury, and pleasure in the worldly life, and give them a little respite until the painful torment comes to them, where Allah prepared for them in the Hereafter shackles, burning fire, food that chokes where it is stuck in the throat, does not go down to the stomach nor come out of the mouth, and a painful punishment. And this will happen on the day of resurrection when the earth and the mountains will quake, move and disturbs. And the mountains will become a heap of sand, pouring down where it will be blown up that day as mentioned in Surat Almursalaat.
Then Allah threatens whoever denies His Prophet Mohammad with the fate that pharaoh faced when he denied the Prophet Moses and says to Quraish "Indeed, We have sent to you a Messenger, as a witness upon you as We sent to Pharaoh a Messenger, but Pharaoh disobeyed the Messenger, so We seized him a severe seizure" Ayat (15,16), as mentioned in Surat Alnazi'at Allah took Pharaoh with a deterrent torment for the first (the worldly life) and the last (the hereafter). And our Prophet will be a witness upon them on the day of resurrection.
And Allah says to them as a kind of reprimand "Then how will you guard yourselves, if you disbelieve, a day that will make the children gray-headed, the sky will break apart therefrom, His promise is to be fulfilled, indeed, this is a reminder, so whomever wills may take to his Lord a way" Ayat (17-19), that is, how you will save yourselves while your are denying Allah's Messenger, and denying the day of resurrection that makes the children gray, and the sky will break apart from the severity of its horror and its anguish, and Allah assures that His promise is to be fulfilled and that day is inevitable. So whomever wills may take to his Lord a way to His mercy by believing in Him and obeying Him.
The last verse came to abrogate what was mentioned at the beginning of this Surah about the obligation of the night prayer where Allah says to His Messenger that He knows that He stands for prayer less than two-thirds of the night and sometimes half of it and sometimes a third of it and a group of those who are with Him as shown above in Ayat (1-4), and Allah determines the night and the day by hours and times. Allah knows that they will not be able to keep up so long praying at night, then He turned to them in mercy and forgiveness, and eased the prayer for them and made it a voluntary prayer and commanded them to recite as much of the Quran as is easy possible that He knows that there will be among them those who are ill, and others travelling in the land seeking the bounty of Allah, and others fighting in the way of Allah, and says again so Recite as much of it as is easy possible. Allah also commanded them to establish the obligatory prayer in its prescribed times, to give the Zakah (Charity), and to loan Allah a goodly loan, and the good loan that a servant lends his Lord has many aspects including equipping the army and Mujaheddin (The warriors) in the way of Allah and helping the needy, seeking only Allah's pleasure, and desiring His reward, which will be multiplied for him many times over as mentioned in Surat Albaqarah Aya (245), then Allah says whatever you send forth for yourselves of good, you will find it with Allah is better and greater in reward, and seek forgiveness of Allah, indeed, Allah is Most Forgiving, Most merciful.