✦ AT A GLANCE ✦
الليل
Al-Layl
✦ Why this name
The Night — al-Layl, sworn by in the opening verse.
✦ When it came
Meccan. Reported to have been revealed about Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, who bought and freed enslaved Muslims being tortured for their faith.
✦ The story
The surah divides people by what they do with what they have. *"As for he who gives and fears Allah and believes in the best reward — We will ease him toward ease."* And the opposite: *"But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need, and denies the best reward — We will ease him toward difficulty."*
Ease toward ease. Ease toward hardship. The same verb both times: whatever direction you start walking, Allah makes the walking easier.
And it ends with the description of the one who will be spared: *"the one who gives his wealth to purify himself, and not as payment for a favour from anyone — only seeking the countenance of his Lord, the Most High."* No debt being settled. No reputation being bought.
✦ How it unfolds
- AYAH 1-4
Your efforts are diverse
Night, day, and the creation of male and female — and human striving described as scattered.