As-Sajdah · Makki · ayah 16 of 30

As-Sajdah 32:16

تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

“Their sides part [i.e., they arise] from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.[1174]”

Saheeh International

Essence

While the town sleeps heavily, their sides will not settle: they call their Lord in fear and hope, and give from what He gave.

A reflection

His bed, His night, His provision

A colleague mentions, for the third time this week, that he was up at four for the night prayer. He says it lightly. But he says it.

The ayah describes the same act without a word of credit. Tatajāfā junūbuhum ʿan al-maḍājiʿ: their sides draw away from their beds. Look at what they draw away from, and whose it was. The bed. The sleep. The money they give. Every one was given first. The Quran counts sleep among His signs: 'your sleep by night and by day' (30:23). And this ayah's last clause names the source outright: mimmā razaqnāhum, from what We have provided them. They give out of His gift.

So the one who rises at night is not offering something of his own. He is leaving a bed he was lent, at an hour he was lent, to call on the One who lent it. That leaves very little for the ego to stand on, and nothing to boast of.

The One they call on does not sleep. 'Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep' (2:255). He is not waiting up for our prayers because He needs company. He is the Free of all need (35:15).

Someone may ask why God would want people to lose sleep for Him at all. Does He need our nights? He does not. The night prayer adds nothing to Him and is no tax on our rest. It is an invitation to the one hour when a person is most truly alone with their Lord. The surah has been building to this. Those who did not forget the meeting go out to meet Him early.

The colleague's prayer may be sincere, and it is precious. But the ayah suggests a better way to tell it: say nothing. The people described here are known by what their sides do in the dark, not by what their mouths say in the morning. Pride in a night prayer quietly turns a gift back into a possession.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.