Аль-Муззаммиль

O you enwrapped in your garment!, the Prophet (al-muzzammil is actually al-mutazammil, but the tā’ has been assimilated with the zāy), that is to say, the one who wraps himself up in his clothes when the Revelation [Gabriel] comes to him, in fear of him because of his awe-inspiring presence.

Stand vigil, perform prayer, through the night, except a little,

a half of it (nisfahu substitutes for qalīlan, with ‘little’ [being little by] taking into account the whole [night]), or reduce of it, of the half, a little, up to a third,

or add to it, up to two thirds (aw implies [free] choice), and recite the Qur’ān, recite it carefully, in a measured tone.

Verily [soon] We shall cast on you a weighty, an awe-inspiring or stern, word, [a weighty] Qur’ān, because of the prescriptions [imposed] in it.

Assuredly rising in the night, to wake up after [having been in] sleep, is firmer in tread, [more] conducive to [establishing] harmony between the hearing and the heart for the purpose of comprehending the Qur’ān, and more upright in respect to speech, clearer for utterance [of devotions].

[For] assuredly during the day you have extended engagements, administering your affairs, and you do not have the time to recite Qur’ān.

And mention the Name of your Lord, that is, say, bi’smi’Llāhi’l-rahmāni’l-rahīm, ‘In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful’, to begin your recitation, and devote yourself [exclusively] to Him with complete devotion (tabtīlan is the verbal noun from batala, used here [instead of tabattulan] in order to concord with the end-rhyme of the verses) for he [the Prophet] is obliged to devote himself to God.

He is, Lord of the east and the west; there is no god except Him, so take Him for a Guardian, entrusting your affairs to Him,

and bear patiently what they say, that is, the disbelievers of Mecca, in the way of their maltreatment [of you], and part with them in a gracious manner, without any anguish — this was [revealed] before the command to fight them.

And leave Me [to deal] with the deniers (wa’l-mukadhdhibīna is a supplement to the direct object, or [it is] an object of accompaniment; the meaning is: ‘I will avail you of them’, they being the doughty [leaders] of Quraysh), those enjoying affluence, and respite them a little, while — they were killed soon afterwards at Badr.

[For] indeed with Us are heavy fetters (ankāl is the plural of nikl), heavy shackles, and a hell-fire, a scorching Fire,

and a food that chokes, one that causes the throat to choke, and this is [either] zaqqūm [cf. Q. 44:43], darī‘ [cf. Q. 88:6], ghislīn [cf. Q. 69:36] or thorns of fire, which can neither be vomited nor ingested, and a painful chastisement, in addition to the [punishment] mentioned, for those who deny the Prophet (s),

on the day when the earth and the mountains will quake and the mountains will be like heaps of shifting sand (mahīl derives from hāla, yahīlu; it is actually mahyūl, but the damma sound is considered too heavy for the yā’ and is therefore transposed onto the hā’, while the wāw, the second of two unvocalised consonants, is omitted on account of it being extra, and the damma is replaced by a kasra because of its [phonetic] affinity the [letter] yā’).

We have indeed sent to you, O people of Mecca, a Messenger, namely, Muhammad (s), to be a witness against you, on the Day of Resurrection to any disobedience that you engage in, just as We sent to Pharaoh a messenger, namely, Moses, peace be upon him.

But Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger, so We seized him with a severe seizing.

So, if you disbelieve, in this world, how will you guard against a day (yawman is the direct object of tattaqūna, ‘you guard against’) that is, against the chastisement thereof, by what defence will you defend yourselves against the chastisement of a day, that will make the children grey-haired (shīb is the plural of ashyab) by the severity of its terrors, this being the Day of Resurrection (the shīn of shīb should actually have a damma, but it is given a kasra because of its [phonetic] affinity with the yā’) — a distressing day is described as being ‘a day that makes the forelocks of children turn grey’, which is [usually] understood figuratively; but it may be that in the case of this verse it is meant literally —

with the heaven being rent asunder thereon, on that Day, because of its severity. His promise, exalted be He, of the coming of that [Day], shall be fulfilled, that is to say, it will come to pass without doubt.

Indeed these, threatening verses, are a reminder, an admonition for all creatures. Let him who will, then, choose a way to his Lord, a path [to Him], through faith and obedience.

Assuredly your Lord knows that you stand vigil less than two thirds of the night, or [at times] a half of it or a third of it (if read wa-nisfihi wa-thuluthihi, then these constitute a supplement to thuluthay, ‘two thirds’; if read wa-nisfahu wa-thuluthahu, then a supplement to adnā, ‘less than’) — his keeping vigil in the way mentioned is in accordance with what was enjoined on him at the beginning of this sūra — along with a group of those with you (wa-tā’ifatun mina’lladhīna ma‘aka constitutes a supplement to the subject [of the verb] taqūmu, ‘you stand vigil’, but it may also constitute, although it is not certain, a separating clause). The keeping vigil by some of his companions in this way indicates their emulation of him. Some of them could not tell how much of the night they had spent in prayer and how much of it had remained, and would therefore keep vigil all night as a precaution; and so they used to keep vigil [in this way] for a whole year or more with their feet swollen, until God alleviated matters for them. He, exalted be He, says: and God keeps measures, He keeps count of, the night and the day. He knows that (an: softened in place of the hardened form, its subject having been omitted, that is to say, annahu) you will not be able to keep count of it, that is, the [length of the] night, so that you may perform the vigil at the time in which it is required unless you stay up all night, which is hard on you, and so He has relented to you, making you revert to what is easier. So recite as much as is feasible of the Qur’ān, during prayer, by performing as much prayer as is feasible. He knows that (an: softened in place of the hardened form, that is to say, annahu) some of you will be sick, while others will be travelling in the land, seeking the bounty of God, seeking of His provision through commerce and otherwise, and others will be fighting in the way of God: for each of the three groups mentioned the keeping of nightly vigil is hard, and so God has alleviated things for them by [enjoining on them] what is feasible. Later this was abrogated by the five [daily] prayers. So recite as much as is feasible of it (as [explained] above) and perform, obligatory, prayer and pay alms and lend God, by expending in the way of good in addition to what is due from your wealth [as alms], a goodly loan, out of the goodness of [your] hearts. For whatever good you send ahead for [the sake of] your souls, you will find that, with God, it will be better, than what you left behind (huwa khayran: huwa is for separation; what follows it [khayran, ‘better’] is comparable to a definite, even if it is not [actually] so, on account of the impossibility of it being given [the al- of] definition) and greater in terms of reward. And seek forgiveness from God; assuredly God is Forgiving, Merciful, to believers.