Surah 93. Ad-Duha

By the morning sunlight,

  - Mustafa Khattab

By the Glorious Morning Light. ⁶¹⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The full morning light of the sun, when his splendour shines forth in contrast with the night which has passed. Cf. xci. 1. The growing hours of morning light, from sunrise to noon, are the true type of the growth of spiritual life and work, while the stillness of the night is, to those who know, only a preparation for it. We are not to imagine that the stillness or quiescence of the night is wasted, or means stagnation in our spiritual life. The stillness may seem lonely, but we are not alone, nor forsaken by Allah. Nor is such preparation, without immediate visible results, a sign of Allah's displeasure.

and the night when it falls still!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And by the Night when it is still ⁶¹⁷⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xcii. 1-2. There Night is mentioned first, and Day second, to enforce the lesson of contrasts: the veil of the night naturally comes first before the splendour of daylight is revealed. Here the argument is different: the growing hours of morning light are the main things and are mentioned first; while the hours of preparation and quiescence, which are subordinate, come second.

Your Lord 'O Prophet' has not abandoned you, nor has He become hateful 'of you'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

The guardian-Lord Hath not forsaken thee Nor is He displeased. ^{6177 6178}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As usual, there is the particular assurance to the Holy Prophet, and the general asssurance to mankind: see the Introduction to this Sura. The early years of the Prophet's ministry might well have seemed blank. After inspiration there were days and periods of waiting. A sense of loneliness might well have weighed on his mind. His own tribe of the Quraish jeered at him, taunted and threatened him, and slandered and persecuted him as well as those who believe in him. But his faith was never shaken, not even to the extent of that cry of agony of Jesus: "My God! why hast Thou forsaken me?": (Mark, xvi. 34). Much less did it enter the Prophet's mind to think that Allah was angry with him, as the taunts of his enemies suggested.

See last note. The more general meaning is similar. To the man who prepares for spiritual work and spiritual growth the chief thing is typified by the growing hours of the morning. He should not be discouraged, nor overcome with a sense of loneliness in his early struggles or difficulties. The end will crown his work. Allah's care is always around him. If unsympathetic or hostile critics laugh at him or taunt him with being, "mad" or "old-fashioned" or "ploughing his lonely furrow", his steady faith will uphold him. He will never believe that his earnest and sincere devotion to Allah, whatever be its results in this world, can be anything but pleasing to Allah.

And the next life is certainly far better for you than this one.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And verily the hereafter will be better for thee than the present. ⁶¹⁷⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

To the truly devout man, each succeeding moment is better than the one preceding it. In this sense the "hereafter" refers not only to the Future Life after death, but also to "the soul of goodness in things" in this very life. For even though some outward trappings of this shadow-world may be wanting, his soul is filled with more and more satisfaction as he goes on.

And 'surely' your Lord will give so much to you that you will be pleased.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And soon will thy Guardian-Lord give thee (that wherewith) thou shalt be well-pleased. ⁶¹⁸⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah's good pleasure is sure when we serve Him. But we are assured that even our feelings of doubt and suffering will vanish, and we shall have a sense of complete satisfaction, contentment, and active pleasure when our will is identified with the Will of Allah.