1. Here, the word duha has been used in contrast to the night; therefore, it implies the bright hours of the day. A precedent of it are(verses 97-98 of Surah Al-Aaraf), which say: Do the people of the settlements now feel secure that Our punishment will not come to them all of a sudden at night, while they might be fast asleep? Or, do they feel secure that Our punishment will not smite them all of a sudden during the day while they might be engaged in pastimes?" In these verses also since the word duha has been used in contrast to the night, it implies the day and not just forenoon.

2. The word saja in the original does not only signify the spreading of darkness but it also contains the meaning of stillness and peace that prevails at night. This quality of night deeply relates to the theme that follows.

3. Traditions show that revelations to the Prophet (peace be upon him) had remained suspended for some period of time. Different traditions have mentioned different durations of this period. Ibn Juraij has mentioned it to be 12 days, Kalbi 15 days, Ibn Abbas 25 days, and Suddi and Muqatil have stated that it extended to 40 days. In any case the period was so long that it made the Prophet (peace be upon him) sorrowful, and the opponents also had the opportunity to taunt him. For whenever a new Surah came down, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would recite it before the people. Therefore, when he did not recite any new revelation to them for quite some days, the opponents thought that the fountainhead from where the revelation came, had dried up. Jundub bin Abdullah al-Bajali has related that when Angel Gabriel stopped coming, the pagans started saying that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been forsaken by his Lord. (Ibn Jarir, Tabarani, Abd bin Humaid, Saeed bin Mansur, Ibn Marduyah). Other traditions show that Umm Jamil, wife of Abu Lahab, who was an aunt of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and whose house adjoined his, said to him: It appears your satan has forsaken you. Aufi and Ibn Jarir have related, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, that when Gabriel did not visit him for several days, the Prophet (peace be upon him) became anxious and distressed, and the pagans began to say that his Lord had become angry with him and had forsaken him. In the mursal traditions of Qatadah and Dahhak almost the same theme has been expressed. The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) extreme grief and anguish in this condition has also been referred to in several traditions. And this was natural. The apparent indifference on the part of the beloved, the apparent deprivation of the contact with the source of power, which was his chief support, in the soul-destroying conflict between belief and unbelief, and above all, the taunts and jeers of the enemy, when all these things combined they must have caused great anguish to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he must be thinking that because of some error that he might have committed, his Lord had become displeased with him and had forsaken and left him to fight the battle between truth and falsehood alone.

This was the state when this Surah was sent down to console the Prophet (peace be upon him). In it, swearing an oath by the light of the day and the peacefulness of the night, he has been told: Your Lord has neither forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you. The relevance of the oath by these two things to the theme is: Just as brightening up of the day and spreading of the night with darkness and stillness is not for the reason that Allah is pleased with the people during the day and displeased with them during the night but both states are based on supreme wisdom and expedience, so sending down of revelation to you at onetime and suspending it at another time is also based on wisdom and expedience; it has nothing to do with Allah’s being pleased with you when He sends down revelation and his being displeased with you when He suspends it. Besides, another relevance of the oath to the subject is that if man is constantly exposed to the light of days it wearies him; so, it is necessary that night should fall after the day has remained bright for a certain period so that man may have rest and peace in it. Likewise, if you are constantly exposed to the light of revelation, your nerves would not stand it. Therefore, fatrah (break or gap in the revelation) has also been provided by Allah on account of expedience so that the effects of the strain of revelation that you have to bear passes away and complete peace is restored to you. In other words, rising of the sun of revelation is analogous to the bright day and the period of the fatrah to the stillness and peace of the night.

4. This good news was given by Allah to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a state when he had only a handful of Muslims with him, the entire nation was hostile and there was not even a remote chance of success. The candle of Islam was flickering only in Makkah and storms were brewing all around to blow it out. At that juncture Allah said to His Prophet (peace be upon him): Do not at all grieve at the hardships of the initial stage, every later period of life will be better for you than the former period. Your power and glory, your honor and prestige will go on enhancing and your influence will go on spreading. This promise is not only confined to the world, but it also includes the promise that the rank and position you will be granted in the Hereafter will be far higher and nobler than the rank and position you attain in the world. Tabarani in Awsat and Baihaqi in Ad-Dalail have related on the authority of Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: All the victories which would be attained by my Ummah after me, were presented before me. This pleased me much. Then, Allah sent down this Word, saying: The Hereafter is far better for you than the world.

5. That is, although it will take some time, yet the time is not far when your Lord will bless you with so much that you will be well pleased. This promise was fulfilled during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and all Arabia, from the southern coasts to the Syrian frontiers of the Byzantine empire and the Iraqi frontiers of the Persian empire in the north, and from the Persian Gulf in the east to the Red Sea in the west, came under his control. For the first time in the history of Arabia this land became subject to one law and rule. Whichever power clashed with it was doomed to destruction. The slogan La-ilaha-illallah-u Muhammad-ur-Rasul-Allah reverberated throughout the land where the polytheists and the followers of the earlier scriptures had tried their utmost to keep their false creeds and slogans aloft till the last. The people not only bowed their heads in obedience, their hearts were also conquered and their beliefs, morals and acts were revolutionized. There is no precedent in human history that nation sunk in paganism might have completely changed in only 23 years. Then the movement started by the Prophet (peace be upon him) gathered such power that it spread over a larger part of Asia, Africa and Europe and its influence reached every nook and corner of the world. This much Allah gave His Messenger (peace be upon him) in the world, the glory and extent of what He will give him in the Hereafter cannot be imagined. Also see (E.N. 112 of Surah TaHa).

6. That is, there can be no question of forsaking you and being displeased with you. We have, in fact, been good to you ever since the time you were born as an orphan. The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) father passed away three months before his birth; thus he was an orphan at birth. But Allah did not leave him without support even for a day. Up to six years of age his mother nourished and looked after him. After her death, his grandfather took him and brought him up with great love. He would proudly tell the people: My this son has a great future. When he died, his uncle, Abu Talib, became his guardian and treated him with such rare love that no father could treat his son better. So much so that when after his proclamation to be a Prophet the entire nation turned hostile, Abu Talib alone stood firm as his chief supporter for as long as ten years.

7. The word daallan as used in the original is derived from dalalat, which has several meanings in Arabic. Its one meaning is to be lost in error and deviation; another, to be unaware of the way and to be bewildered at the crossroads as to which way one should choose; still another meaning is of being lost and astray. The tree also is daallah which stands alone and lonely in the desert; the word dalal is also used for a thing which is wasting in unfavorable and uncongenial condition and climate, and also for heedlessness, of which there is an example in the Quran itself: La yadillu Rabbi wa la yansa, My Lord is neither heedless nor He forgets. (Surah TaHa, Ayat 52). Out of these different meanings. The first meaning does not apply here, for in the historical accounts of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) life, from childhood till just before Prophethood, there is no trace that he ever might have been involved in idolatry, polytheism or atheism, or in any of the acts, customs and practices of paganism prevalent among his people. Therefore, inevitably wa-wa-jadaka-daallan cannot mean that Allah had found him erring and astray in respect of creed or deed. The other meanings, however, can be applicable here in one or other aspect, and possibly all are applicable in their own particular aspect. Before Prophethood the Prophet (peace be upon him) was certainly a believer in the existence of Allah and His Unity, and his life was free from sin and reflected excellent morals, yet he was unaware of true faith, its principles and injunctions, as it has been pointed out in the Quran: You did not know at all what was the Book and what was the faith. (Surah Ash-Shura, Ayat 52). This verse may also mean that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was lost in a society, engrossed in ignorance, and his personality as a guide and leader was not in anyway prominent before Prophethood. It may as well mean that in the desert of ignorance, he was standing like a lonely tree, which had the capability to bear fruit and turn the whole desert into a garden, but this capability was not being put to any use before Prophethood. It may also imply that the extraordinary powers, that Allah had blessed him with, were going waste in the unfavorable environment of ignorance. Dalal can also be taken in the meaning of heedlessness, so as to say: You were heedless of the truth and signs of which Allah made you aware after Prophethood. This thing also has been referred to in the Quran itself: Though before this you were utterly unaware of this truth. (Surah Yusuf, Ayat 3). Also see( Surah AlBaqarah,Ayat 282); ( Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat 20).

8. The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) father had left only a she-camel and a slave-girl in heritage for him; so he started his life in a state of poverty. Then a time came when the wealthiest lady among the Quraish, Khadijah, first made him her partner in trade, then married him, and he took charge of all her trade and business. Thus, he not only became wealthy but his riches in no way were dependent on the resources of his wife; his own hard work and ability had gone a long way towards promoting her trade and commerce.

9. That is, as you yourself have been an orphan and Allah graced you with the bounty that he made the best possible arrangements to help you in that state, therefore, in gratitude you should see that no orphan is treated unjustly and harshly.

10. It has two meanings.

If saail is taken in the sense of a needy person, who asks for help, it would mean that if you can, you should help him. If you cannot, you should excuse yourself politely, but should never scold him. In this sense the instruction corresponds to Allah’s this favor: You were poor, then Allah enriched you.

And if saail is taken in the sense of the one who inquires, i.e. asks for enlightenment on a religious matter or injunction, it would mean that even if such a person be extremely ignorant and ill-mannered and might put the question, or present his problem, impolitely, you should in any case answer him politely and kindly, and should not turn him away like the rude people proud of their knowledge.

In this meaning, the instruction corresponds to Allah’s this favor: You were unaware of the way, then He guided you. Abu Darda, Hasan Basri, Sufyan Thauri and some other scholars have preferred this second meaning, for in view of the order and sequence this instruction corresponds to: wa-wa-jadaka daalllan fa hada.

11. The word nimat (bounty) is general, which also implies those bounties, which Allah had bestowed on His Messenger (peace be upon him) until the revelation of this Surah as well as those which He bestowed on him afterwards according to the promise made in this Surah, which He fulfilled completely. Then, it is enjoined: O Prophet, mention and proclaim every bounty that Allah has favored you with. Now, obviously, there can be different forms and ways of mentioning and proclaiming the bounties and every bounty, in view of its nature, requires a special form of its mention and proclamation. As a whole, the way of proclaiming the bounties is that Allah be thanked with the tongue and the truth be acknowledged that all the bounties received are only due to His grace and favor and none is the result of any personal excellence and merit on his part. The blessing of Prophethood can be proclaimed by preaching and conveying its message in the best way possible. The blessing of the Quran can be proclaimed by publicizing it widely and impressing its teachings on the people’s minds as far as one can. The blessing of Allah’s guidance can be proclaimed by showing the right way to the people who are gone astray and by enduring patiently all the bitterness and hardship of the way. The favor that Allah has done of helping during orphan-hood, demands that the orphans be treated well. The favor that Allah did of enriching after poverty requires that Allah's needy servants be helped and supported. In short, this is a very comprehensive instruction which Allah gave to His Messenger (peace be upon him) in this brief sentence after having described His bounties and blessings.