'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (lo! thy lord) o muhammad (knoweth how thou keepest vigil sometimes nearly) less than (two thirds of the night) up to half of the night, (or (sometimes) half) and sometimes you keep vigil half of the night (or a third thereof) and you keep vigil a third of the night; it is also said this means: and sometimes less than half of the night, (as do a party of those with thee) and a group of believers with you who keep vigil of the night in prayer. (allah measureth the night and the day) allah knows the hours of the day and night. (he knoweth that ye count it not) i.e. keep track of the hours of the night; it is also said that this means: he knows you will not be able to persevere in that which you are commanded of prayer in the night, (and turneth unto you in mercy) and so he forgives you if you do not pray at night. (recite, then, of the qur'an) when you perform the prayers (that which is easy for you) 100 verses and more; and it is also said this means: whatever you wish to recite of the qur'an. (he knoweth that there are sick folk among you) wounded people among you who cannot pray at night, (while others travel in the land) fleeing from something or (in search of allah's bounty) of allah's provision and other things, and it is hard on them to pray at night, (and others (still) are fighting for the cause of allah) for the obedience of allah who will find it hard to pray at night. (so recite of it) of the qur'an in your prayers (that which is easy (for you), and establish worship) complete the five daily prayers including what is required for its validity of ritual ablution, bowings, prostrations and the observation of their due times (and pay the poor-due) from your wealth (and (so) lend unto allah) by giving to charity; and it is also said: by doing righteous works (a goodly loan) truly and sincerely from your hearts. (whatsoever good) alms or righteous works (ye send before you for your souls, ye will surely find it) find its reward (with allah) in paradise preserved for you, neither stolen, drowned, burnt or eaten by borer, (better) than what you have left in the life of the world (and greater in the recompense) than that which you have. (and seek forgiveness of allah) from your sins. (lo! allah is forgiving) he forgives whoever repents, (merciful) towards he who dies repentant, because of the mercy of he who is enveloped in his cloak'.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : assuredly your lord knows that you stand vigil less than two thirds of the night, or [at times] a half of it or a third of it (if read wa-nisfihi wa-thuluthihi, then these constitute a supplement to thuluthay, ‘two thirds’; if read wa-nisfahu wa-thuluthahu, then a supplement to adnā, ‘less than’) — his keeping vigil in the way mentioned is in accordance with what was enjoined on him at the beginning of this sūra — along with a group of those with you (wa-tā’ifatun mina’lladhīna ma‘aka constitutes a supplement to the subject [of the verb] taqūmu, ‘you stand vigil’, but it may also constitute, although it is not certain, a separating clause). the keeping vigil by some of his companions in this way indicates their emulation of him. some of them could not tell how much of the night they had spent in prayer and how much of it had remained, and would therefore keep vigil all night as a precaution; and so they used to keep vigil [in this way] for a whole year or more with their feet swollen, until god alleviated matters for them. he, exalted be he, says: and god keeps measures, he keeps count of, the night and the day. he knows that (an: softened in place of the hardened form, its subject having been omitted, that is to say, annahu) you will not be able to keep count of it, that is, the [length of the] night, so that you may perform the vigil at the time in which it is required unless you stay up all night, which is hard on you, and so he has relented to you, making you revert to what is easier. so recite as much as is feasible of the qur’ān, during prayer, by performing as much prayer as is feasible. he knows that (an: softened in place of the hardened form, that is to say, annahu) some of you will be sick, while others will be travelling in the land, seeking the bounty of god, seeking of his provision through commerce and otherwise, and others will be fighting in the way of god: for each of the three groups mentioned the keeping of nightly vigil is hard, and so god has alleviated things for them by [enjoining on them] what is feasible. later this was abrogated by the five [daily] prayers. so recite as much as is feasible of it (as [explained] above) and perform, obligatory, prayer and pay alms and lend god, by expending in the way of good in addition to what is due from your wealth [as alms], a goodly loan, out of the goodness of [your] hearts. for whatever good you send ahead for [the sake of] your souls, you will find that, with god, it will be better, than what you left behind (huwa khayran: huwa is for separation; what follows it [khayran, ‘better’] is comparable to a definite, even if it is not [actually] so, on account of the impossibility of it being given [the al- of] definition) and greater in terms of reward. and seek forgiveness from god; assuredly god is forgiving, merciful, to believers.
