Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL LAIL [1]

1. By the night as it envelops. 2. By the day as it appears. 3. By Him Who created male and female. 4. Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse. 5. As for him who gives and has Taqwa, 6. And believes in Al-Husna. 7. We will make smooth for him the path of ease. 8. But he who is greedy and thinks himself self-sufficient, 9. And denies Al-Husna. 10. We will make smooth for him the path to evil. 11. And what will his wealth avail him when he goes down (in destruction) Allah swears by saying:

(By the night as it envelops.) meaning, when it covers the creation with its darkness.

(By the day as it appears.) meaning, with its light and its radiance.

(By Him Who created male and female.) This is similar to Allah's saying,

(And We have created you in pairs.) (78:8) It is also similar to saying,

(And of everything We have created pairs.) (51:49) And just as these things that are being sworn by are opposites, likewise that which this swearing is about are opposing things. This is why Allah says,

(Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse. ) meaning, the actions of the servants that they have performed are also opposites and diverse. Therefore, there are those who do good and there are those who do evil. Allah then says,

(As for him who gives and has Taqwa.) meaning, he gives what he has been commanded to give and he fears Allah in his affairs.

(And believes in Al-Husna.) meaning, in the compensation for that. This was said by Qatadah. Khusayf said, ”In the reward.'' Then Allah says,

(We will make smooth for him the path of ease.) Ibn `Abbas said, ”Meaning for goodness.'' Thus, Allah says,

(But he who is greedy) meaning, with that which he has.

(and thinks himself self-sufficient,) `Ikrimah reported that Ibn `Abbas said, ”This means he is stingy with his wealth and considers himself to be in no need of his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic.'' This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim.

(And denies Al-Husna.) meaning, the recompense in the abode of the Hereafter.

(We will make smooth for him the path to evil.) meaning, the path of evil. This is as Allah says,

(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, as they refused to believe therein for the first time, and We shall leave them in their trespass to wander blindly.) (6:110) And there are many Ayat with this meaning, proving that Allah rewards those who intend good with success, while whoever intends evil is abandoned, and all of this is in accordance with a preordained decree. There are also many Hadiths that prove this.   Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Bakr that he said to the Messenger of Allah , ”O Messenger of Allah! Do we act according to what has already been decided, or is the matter just beginning (i.e., still undecided)'' He replied,

(Indeed it is according to what has already been decided.) Then Abu Bakr said, ”Then what (good) are deeds, O Messenger of Allah'' He replied,

(Everyone will find it easy to do such deeds that will lead him to what he was created for.)   Al-Bukhari recorded from `Ali bin Abi Talib that they (the Companions) were with the Messenger of Allah at the cemetery of Baqi` Al-Gharqad for a funeral, when the Prophet said,

(There is none among you except that his place has already been written, a seat in Paradise and a seat in the Hellfire.) They said, ”O Messenger of Allah! Should we depend on this'' He replied,

(Perform deeds for everyone will have the deeds of what he was created for (Paradise or Hell) made easy for him.) Then he recited the Ayah

(As for him who gives and has Taqwa, and believes in Al-Husna. We will make smooth for him the path of ease.)'' until the Ayah:

(the path to evil) He (Imam Al-Bukhari) also recorded another similar narration from `Ali bin Abi Talib in which he said, ”We were at a funeral in the cemetery of Baqi` Al-Gharqad when the Messenger of Allah came and sat down. So we came and sat around him and he had a stick with him. Then he bowed his head and he began to scratch the ground with his stick. He then said,

(There is not anyone among you -- or is not a single soul (that has been created) -- except that his place has been written in Paradise or in the Fire, and it has been written that he will be miserable or happy.) A man said, ”O Messenger of Allah! Should we just depend on what has been written for us and give up performing deeds For whoever of us is of the people of happiness then he will be of the people of happiness, and whoever among us is of the people of misery then he will be of the people of misery.'' The Prophet replied,

(Those people who are the people of happiness, they will have the deeds of the people of happiness made easy for them. And those people who are the people of misery, they will have the deeds of the people of misery made easy for them.) Then he recited the Ayah:

(As for him who gives and has Taqwa, and believes in Al-Husna. We will make smooth for him the path of ease (goodness). But he who is greedy and thinks himself self-sufficient, and belies Al-Husna. We will make smooth for him the path to evil.)) The other compilers of the Group have also recorded this Hadith. Imam Ahmad recorded from Ibn `Umar that `Umar said, ”O Messenger of Allah! Do you think that the deeds that we do are a matter that is already predetermined or are they something just beginning or new'' The Prophet replied,

(It is something that has already been predetermined. Therefore, work deeds, O son of Al-Khattab! For verily, each person will have things made easy for him. So whoever is from the people of happiness, then he will work deeds for happiness, and whoever is from the people of misery, then he will work deeds for misery.)'' This Hadith has been recorded by At-Tirmidhi in the Book of Al-Qadar and he said ”Hasan Sahih.'' Another Hadith Narrated by Jabir Ibn Jarir recorded from Jabir bin `Abdullah that he said, ”O Messenger of Allah! Are we performing deeds for something that has already been predetermined or is the matter based upon what we are just doing (now)'' The Prophet replied,

(It is a matter that has been predetermined.) Then Suraqah said, ”Then what is the purpose of deeds'' The Messenger of Allah then said,

(Everyone who does deeds will have his deeds made easy for him.) Muslim also recorded this Hadith. Ibn Jarir recorded from `Amir bin `Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr that he said, ”Abu Bakr used to free servants upon their acceptance of Islam in Makkah. He used to free the elderly and the women when they accepted Islam. So his father said to him, `O my son! I see that you are freeing people who are weak. But if you freed strong men they could stand with you, defend you and protect you.' Abu Bakr replied, `O my father! I only want -- and I think he said -- what is with Allah.' Some people of my family have told me this Ayah was revealed about him:

(As for him who gives and has Taqwa, and believes in Al-Husna. We will make smooth for him the path of ease.)'' Then Allah says,

(And what will his wealth avail him when he goes down) Mujahid said, ”This means when he dies.'' Abu Salih and Malik said -- narrating from Zayd bin Aslam, ”When he goes down into the Fire.''