أَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ لِدُلُوكِ ٱلشَّمْسِ إِلَىٰ غَسَقِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَقُرْءَانَ ٱلْفَجْرِ
Aqimi'l-ṣalāta li-dulūki'l-shamsi ilā ghasaqi'l-layli wa qurʾāna'l-fajr, inna qurʾāna'l-fajri kāna mashhūdā · Wa mina'l-layli fa-tahajjad bihi nāfilatan lak, ʿasā an yabʿathaka rabbuka maqāman maḥmūdā
"Perform the prayer from the sun's declining to the darkening of the night, and the recitation of dawn; for the recitation of dawn is witnessed. And in part of the night keep vigil with it, as an added observance for you alone. It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised station."
دُلُوك — root د-ل-ك: to slip, to incline; and to rub. There is disagreement over what the word conveys here:
| Reading | What dulūk is |
|---|---|
| 1 | The sun's turning past the zenith — its slipping from the highest point towards the west |
| 2 | The setting of the sun |
غَسَق — root غ-س-ق: the thickening of darkness, its flowing in. The root was treated at 113/3 in al-Falaq (wa min sharri ghāsiqin idhā waqab). I do not repeat it here.
A record required by the method: in the classical works of jurisprudence this verse is used as a support in fixing the times of prayer, and there are differences of detail among the schools. No legal ruling is issued in this commentary; what the verse does in its own wording is to tie the act of worship to the movement of the sun.
And I record this as an observation: the verse gives no hour. The measure is the sky itself. This agrees with the frame set up in the twelfth verse (li-taʿlamū ʿadada'l-sinīna wa'l-ḥisāb) — the sūra had shown there the instrument for measuring time; here that instrument is tied to an act of worship.
The use of the word here is worth recording: qurʾān here is not the name of the Book but a verbal noun meaning "reciting".
And the sūra uses this root in several places: 14 (iqraʾ kitābak), 45 (wa idhā qaraʾta'l-qurʾān), 71 (yaqraʾūna kitābahum), 78 (qurʾāna'l-fajr), 93 (kitāban naqraʾuh), 106 (li-taqraʾahu ʿala'l-nās).
Six occurrences, and what is read differs every time: the record of deeds, the Qurʾān, the register, the prayer, the book demanded, the proclaiming. This is a weave that can be verified within the sūra, and I record this as my own reading: the act of reading is a recurring action in the fabric of the sūra.
مَشْهُودًا — "witnessed, attested". In the classical commentaries explanations are transmitted as to whose witnessing this is; I do not go into the detail and I do not pile up reports. The verse's literal record is this: the recitation of that hour is an hour with witnesses.
نَافِلَة — root ن-ف-ل: an excess added on top of what is basic. Nafal — spoils (given over and above the basic share).
And the qualification must be recorded: laka — "for you alone". The lexicographers explain this qualification as meaning that the ruling belongs to the Prophet; a difference over this is transmitted in the classical sources too. I draw no juristic conclusion.
تَهَجَّدْ — root ه-ج-د: according to what the lexicographers record, the root can mean both to sleep and to leave off sleep (one of the roots with contrary senses). Form V conveys here "to leave sleep and rise".
Rising at night was treated in detail at 73/1-6 in al-Muzzammil. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it.
What this construction points to has been disputed in the classical commentaries, and the explanations are transmitted. I do not go into the detail and issue no firm ruling — the same position was adopted at 19/57 in Maryam (wa rafaʿnāhu makānan ʿaliyyā); I rely on that.
But one textual datum can be recorded: it comes with the verb ʿasā — that is, the same pattern as ʿasā rabbukum an yarḥamakum in the eighth verse. The sūra uses this verb of hope in two places: one for a people, the other for the Prophet.