Ghafir · Makki · ayah 61 of 85

Ghafir 40:61

ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلَّيْلَ لِتَسْكُنُوا۟ فِيهِ وَٱلنَّهَارَ مُبْصِرًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ

“It is Allāh who made for you the night that you may rest therein and the day giving sight.[1376] Indeed, Allāh is the possessor of bounty for the people, but most of them are not grateful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah made the night for your rest and the day bright for your work; His bounty has no equal, yet most people never give thanks.

A reflection

No one buys an hour of sleep

Allāhu alladhī jaʿala lakumu al-layla li-taskunū fīh. Allah is the One who made the night for you, so that you may rest in it.

The ayah opens with His name, then points to something so ordinary we hardly notice it. Night falls. We grow tired. We sleep. None of it is our doing.

A narration-based commentary describes the One named here as the only One fit for worship. His attribute is that He made the night a rest for you. Rest from the restless coming and going of the day's work.

A classical rhetorical commentary notices a detail in the phrase about His bounty. The Quran says la-dhū faḍlin, possessor of bounty, rather than a simpler word. The indefinite form is chosen to make it a bounty with no equal. The narration-based commentary says the same: a favour that nothing can match.

This is humbling for the ego in the most practical way. We like to think we run our lives. Yet every night we hand ourselves over to unconsciousness. We cannot make ourselves sleep. We can only lie down and wait to be given it.

A man has built a large and successful company. He owns a house with many bedrooms. For months he lies awake in each of them in turn. He can buy any mattress, any pillow, any silence. He cannot buy one hour of sleep.

That raises a doubt. If Allah gives so much, does He then demand thanks, like a benefactor who wants his name on the wall? The narration-based commentary answers clearly. People owe Him thanks, it says, though they never did Him a prior favour that earned what He gave. He gave first, with nothing owed. And our thanks add nothing to Him. They complete something in us.

Tonight, when sleep comes, it will be a gift. The proud self will not have earned it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.