CONSIDER the bright morning hours,
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and the night when it grows still and dark.1
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Thy Sustainer has not forsaken thee, nor does He scorn thee:2
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for, indeed, the life to come will be better for thee than this earlier part [of thy life]!
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And, indeed, in time will thy Sustainer grant thee [what thy heart desires], and thou shalt be well-pleased.
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Has He not found thee an orphan, and given thee shelter?3
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And found thee lost on thy way, and guided thee?
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And found thee in want, and given thee sufficiency?
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Therefore, the orphan shalt thou never wrong,
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and him that seeks [thy] help shalt thou never chide,4
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and of thy Sustainer's blessings shalt thou [ever] speak.5
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The expression "bright morning hours" apparently symbolises the few and widely-spaced periods of happiness in human life, as contrasted with the much greater length of "the night when it grows still and dark", i.e., the extended periods of sorrow or suffering that, as a rule, overshadow man's existence in this world (cf. 90:4 ). The further implication is that, as sure as morning follows night, God's mercy is bound to lighten every suffering, either in this world or in the life to come - for God has "willed upon Himself the law of grace and mercy" ( 6:12 and {54}).
Sc., "as the thoughtless might conclude in view of the suffering that He has willed thee to bear".
Possibly an allusion to the fact that Muhammad was born a few months after his father's death, and that his mother died when he was only six years old. Apart from this, however, every human being is an "orphan" in one sense or another, inasmuch as everyone is "created in a lonely state" (cf. 6:94 ), and "will appear before Him on Resurrection Day in a lonely state" ({l9:95}).
The term sa'il denotes, literally, "one who asks", which signifies not only a "beggar" but anyone who asks for help in a difficult situation, whether physical or moral, or even for enlightenment.
Sc., "rather than of thy suffering".
