✦ AT A GLANCE ✦
العصر
Al-'Asr
✦ Why this name
Time — al-'Asr, the passing age, sworn by in the first verse.
✦ When it came
Meccan. Imam ash-Shafi'i said that if people reflected on this surah alone, it would be enough for them. Two companions would not part without reciting it to each other.
✦ The story
Three verses. The shortest complete argument in the Quran.
*"By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss."*
Everyone. As a default. Time is passing and it takes everything with it.
*"Except those who believe and do righteous deeds and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience."*
Four things. And notice that two of them are things you cannot do alone. Belief and deeds are yours; truth and patience have to be exchanged. You cannot get out of loss by yourself.
✦ How it unfolds
- AYAH 3
Except four things
Belief, righteous deeds, mutual counsel to truth, mutual counsel to patience.