Exegesis of Al-Qadr (Q. 97)

In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Gracious...
He, upon him be peace, was asked about the interpretation of: {Verily, We have sent it down in the Night of the Qadr. What hast reached thee concerning the Night of the Qadr? The Night of the Qadr is better than a thousand months! The angels and the Spirit are sent down in it...}
{We have sent it down} means: We have made it. Similarly, the Glorified declares:
{We have sent down iron...}3 and {We have sent down livestock for thee, eight pairs}4
{...sent down} is: made. It‟s possible that the whole Qur‟ān was made then;
As well as formed and completed during the Night of the Qadr, as Allah mentioned.
The {Qadr} is a time appointed by Allah and denotes: majestic and immensity.
If one says: "So-n-so or such-and-such is qadr," it means: has greatness and majesty.
It is a time mentioned by Allah and ennobled by Him imbuing it with Qadr.
It is a proof that Allah produced all of the Qur‟ān in the Night of the Qadr,
As well as formed and completed it and didn‟t repeat its revelation and inspiration.
He made it all for His Messenger and Prophet, peace be upon him and his relations.
He only revealed it to the Prophet, peace be upon him, in stages and not all at one time.
Gabriel, may Allah bless him, taught it to him chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in line.
This was so he could recite it, as Allah, the Glorified said, in sequenced stages.
These sequenced stages are described by the Glorified as the inspired revelation.
This is because it is in divisions and sequence. In that, Allah makes the statement:
{...a Qur‟ān which We have separated so that thou may recite it in intervals. We have revealed it in stages} (Q. 17:106) and He, Glorified be He, says to His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny: {Recite the Qur‟ān with measured recitation} (Q. 73:4).
It is broken up and revealed in its completion and its collected revelation.
It is as the idolaters said to the Messenger, peace be on him and his relations:
{"Why wasn‟t the Qur‟ān revealed to him all at one time?!"}. Allah engages:
{It is such that We may establish thy heart by it, and We‟ve sequenced it in stages}
And: "We revealed it to you little by little." Then He says to His Messenger as proof:
{...they do not come to thee with a parable except that We come to thee with Truth
And the best exegesis} (Q. 25:32-35). We praise Allah for what He has enlightened
Us with from His proof, His bestowals of gifts, and mercy illuminated by lighting!
Then, Allah says He sent it down, meaning: He made all of it,
In one night. It is as He says, Blessed be He and Highly Exalted:
{Verily, We have sent it down in the Night of the Qadr} and {Verily, We have sent it down in a Blessed Night} (Q. 44:3).
By that, He invalidates all of the arguments of disbelievers who transgress.
This is by His Power. The ignorant can‟t object to it if they admit intellect.
{...We have sent it down...} may also mean: its descent from the Seventh Heaven
To one of the angels of this world‟s heaven; this is narrated as „Ali‟s perspective.
Whichever of these two interpretations of {sent it down} one adopts,
The idea that all of it was revealed unto him at one time, is dropped.
If the meaning was revelation upon Muhammad, peace be on him and kin,
Then it would mean that the revelation was sent down to him in various divisions.
He said: {...We have sent it down...}, so this would be, from Allah, inconsistent.
The term "revelation" denotes that a total and not a portion of something, is sent.
3 (Q. 57:25)
4 (Q. 39:6)
He says to His Messenger, upon him and his progeny be salām:
{Verily, the One who has apportioned (farđ) to thee the Qur‟ān...} (Q. 28:85).
Allah informs him of its apportioning. "Apportion" means: to divide or section.
It is like one who orders one to divide a thing: "Apportion it (afrađa) in segments."
{Verily, the One who has apportioned to thee the Qur‟ān...} means:
The One who has divided the revelation of Qur‟ān to you in sectioned themes.
For, Allah is the Most-Merciful, Most Gracious. Its apportioning is by One All-Wise.
Any of the opinions we mentioned and clarified, is adopted as the interpretation devised.
It is a great and noble affair, as well as one of honourable mention and what gratifies.
{The Night of the Qadr} is that in which the Qur‟ān was sent down.
It is from amongst the blessed nights in which the descending angels abound.
It is as Allah, the Blessed and Exalted says regarding the angels and Spirit
Due to its blessedness and power. Allah makes its affair great by means of it.
{...by the permission of their Lord from every affair}
From the affairs of Allah in occurrences and blessings for people of the earth.
It is that night which is a time of power and a time for the best of all that has worth.
Its worth is as Allah says, {...better than a thousand months} in measure.
In it, Allah, the Majestic and Praised, has placed blessings and fortune together.
In it, Allah restrains the one who sins from retribution and destruction most.
Allah attributes good to it by the descending of the Spirit and angelic hosts
From the highest of the high heavens to the part of the earth which is low.
{...by the permission of their Lord} is: by the permission of Allah, they do so.
Those other than us say {from every affair} means: from every place.
Allah knows! We say their descent is from Allah‟s command and grace.
They descend by Allah‟s command and power and by what He blessed in it,
As well as by its goodness, to every one of us and to groups by what‟s sent.
It is by its blessing, majesty, and honour that Allah makes it the time of descent
As well as the time of divine inspiration and the amount of such which was sent.
He mentions it by Qadr as a way of ennobling it and associating it with greatness.
Allah makes {The Night of the Qadr} from the nights of Ramadan. Allah states thus:
{The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur‟ān was sent down as guidance for humankind and clear proofs of guidance and criterion} (Q. 2:185).
He says after mentioning it related to its month, may He be Glorified,
And making it where the bountiful blessings and blessed fortune reside:
{Verily, We have sent down on a blessed night, and We are forever warning. On it, every affair has been distinguished in wisdom as a command from Ourselves. Verily, We have been sending, as a mercy from your Lord. Verily, He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing} (Q. 44:3-6).
It is a night of blessings, mercy, peace, and protection. Regarding it,
Says the Lord of Heavens and Earth and the One who is in mercy Abundant:
{Peace until the arrival of Dawn}.
The meaning of {Peace} is: the security until the arrival of the dawn.
The Night of the Qadr is, for the secure, where tranquillity is drawn.
Punishment from Allah does not take place therein, nor is His Wrath felt.
It is by His Grace, Mercy, and Peace to the slave that Allah has forever dealt
Until the dawn. It is also by the right of the night that Allah placed within
Revelation and the sending down of the Qur‟ān as well as its division
By His Grace and Mercy. By His Majesty and Blessing, it is a criterion.
The interpretation of {What hast reached thee...} is: "What do you know?"
Had We not revealed it to you as an explanation, you wouldn‟t have known so.
{...concerning the Night of the Qadr?} regarding its power and immensity
And the way that deeds are multiplied in their reward and virtuous propensity.
It‟s a night {better than a thousand months!} due to its blessings and fortune,
As well as the multiplying of reward, which is as ten thousand nights and then
Ten thousand nights plus ten thousand nights; which equals thirty thousand nights!
In this way it is completed. The measure of the Night of the Qadr constantly multiplies
In its virtue and honour. It is a holy night in which all deeds are increased for the doer.
They are increased thirty thousand times in power and virtue. Praise be Allah, Lord Grandeur,
For that and other than that. For the One who has favoured us is Allah, Best of Granters.

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