(Revealed before Hijrah)

Date of Revelation and Context
After the first two or three Chapters had been revealed, Revelation ceased to come to the Holy Prophet for some time. The present Surah is among those Chapters which were revealed soon after Revelation had started coming again. Thus it should be deemed to have been revealed very early at Mecca. Noldeke places it after Surah Al-Balad, and Muir puts it near Surah Al-Inshirah in chronological order. The Surah embodies a great prophecy that every morrow of the Holy Prophet will be better than his yesterday and this process will continue till his cause will meet with complete success. The prophecy was remarkably fulfilled by the mounting triumphs of the Holy Prophet. In subject-matter the Surah much resembles some of the previous ones. Like them it lays stress on the evils to which the Meccans were specially addicted, with this difference that whereas in this Surah the Holy Prophet and his followers have been enjoined to make proper use of their money, in the preceding Surah a contrast was instituted between the believers' and the disbelievers' treatment of the orphans and the needy. Moreover, in the preceding Surah it was briefly stated that the righteous believer spends his wealth in the way of God; in this Surah mention is made of the blessings which God bestows upon His chosen servants with particular reference to the Holy Prophet. Thus the Surah serves as a sequel to the one preceding it.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
[1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

وَالضُّحَى
[2] By the growing brightness of the forenoon[3372],

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى
[3] And by the night when its darkness spreads out[3373],

مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى
[4] Thy Lord has not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased with thee.[3374]

وَلَلآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الأُولَى
[5] Surely every hour that follows is better for thee than the one that precedes.[3375]

وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَى
[6] And thy Lord will soon give thee and thou wilt be well pleased.

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى
[7] Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter?[3376]

وَوَجَدَكَ ضالاً فَهَدَى
[8] And found thee lost in love for thy people[3377] and provided thee with guidance for them,

وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلاً فَأَغْنَى
[9] And He found thee in want and enriched thee?[3378]

فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلاَ تَقْهَرْ
[10] So the orphan, oppress not,

وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلاَ تَنْهَرْ
[11] And him who seeks thy help, chide not,

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
[12] And the bounty of thy Lord, proclaim[3379].

3372.  'The brightness of the forenoon' may signify the rise and progress of Islam. It may also refer to the particular "forenoon" when the Holy Prophet entered Mecca at the head of an army of ten thousand holy warriors and the Ka'bah was cleared of idols.

3373. 'The Night' may signify the prolonged period of the decline of Islam. It may also refer to that particular night when after the fall of darkness the Holy Prophet went out of his house and took refuge in Cave Thaur along with Abu Bakr. In fact, the night, when the Holy Prophet left Mecca and the day, when it fell, give in a nutshell the various ups and downs of the Holy Prophet's whole career.

3374.  Every day and night of the Holy Prophet, his great successes and temporary setbacks, his joys and tribulations, his devotions at night and activities in the day, all bear out that God was with him.

3375.  Every moment of the Holy Prophet's life was better than the one preceding it.

3376. The Holy Prophet was an orphan in fact as well as figuratively. His orphanhood was of the extreme kind. His father died before he was born and his mother died when he was hardly six years old and his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib, who took charge of him after his mother's death, died two years later, leaving him under the care of his uncle, a man of scanty means. Thus the Prophet was deprived of parental care and love in his early childhood. Yet he received love and affection from his juniors and seniors, his Companions and compatriots, from his followers in the later centuries, in such a large measure that no woman-born had ever received the like of it before, or is likely to receive it in future.

3377. Dalla (lost in love) means; he was perplexed and was unable to see the course; he was entirely engrossed or lost in love or wandered in search of a thing and persevered in the search (Lane). In view of the different meanings of Dalla, the verse may be interpreted as: (1) The Holy Prophet wandered in search of the ways and means to attain to God, and God revealed to him the Law which guided him to the desired goal. (2) He was perplexed and did not know how to find the path that led to the attainment of his quest and God guided him to it. (3) He was entirely lost in the love of his people and God provided him with perfect guidance for them. (4) He was hidden from the eyes of the world and God discovered him and chose him for the task of leading men to Him. Thus the word Dalla has not been used in disapprobation but in praise of the Holy Prophet. In the sense of 'gone astray' the word does not and cannot apply to the Holy Prophet, since according to another Quranic verse (55:3) he was immune to error or going astray. Moreover, the six concluding verses of the Surah reveal a certain sequence-vv. 7, 8 and 9 stand in close relationship with and correspond to vv. 10; 11 and 12 respectively. Dalla of verse 8 being substituted by Sa'il of verse 11, explains the significance of the former word which is, "one who sought God's help to be guided to Him, or to be provided with guidance.' The verse may also mean: 'God found thee lost in search of Him and guided thee unto Himself.'

3378.  The Holy Prophet started his life as a poor orphan and ended it by being the undisputed master of the whole of Arabia.

3379. Verses 7, 8 and 9; speak of God's favours on the Holy Prophet and in vv. 10; 11 and 12 he is enjoined to show his gratitude by doing similar favours to his fellow-beings. The commandment applies equally to his followers.