Al-Muzzammil · Makki · ayah 7 of 20

Al-Muzzammil 73:7

إِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا

“Indeed, for you by day is prolonged occupation.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The day is a long swim through affairs, so the night is kept for Allah; and the day can catch what the night missed.

A reflection

A long swim

Inna laka fī al-nahāri sabḥan ṭawīlā. In the day you have a long sabḥ.

The root picture of sabḥ is swimming: moving swiftly through water. A classical lexicographer, quoted by a later commentator, says the word was then borrowed for going about in general. Another commentator explains why the swimmer is called sābiḥ: he turns about with his hands and feet. So sabḥ in the day is turning about in one's affairs, moving from task to task, person to person.

The commentators explain what this means for the passage. The day is full of comings and goings, needs and duties. In it, you cannot free yourself for worship as you can at night. So the night prayer is commanded.

One commentator sets this beside the previous ayah. The last ayah gave the inner reason for night prayer: the night is firmer in tread and clearer in speech. This ayah gives the outer reason: the day is already full.

An early commentator glossed the day's sabḥ as a long stretch of free time in which to range and turn about. Another said it is for your needs and your people's needs.

There is no criticism of the day here. The swimming is necessary. The Prophet ﷺ had a message to deliver, people to meet, a community to care for. The ayah simply recognises a fact about human life. By day we are in the water. If we want stillness with Allah, we must find it when the water is calm.

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.