Commentary

This Surah, by swearing five oaths in its beginning, emphasises the following fact:

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

Surely your Lord is ever on the watch. [ 89:14]

This means that Allah is watching over whatever you do, and reward or punishment for your deeds is certain and inevitable.

The first among the five oaths sworn at the beginning is Fajr (dawn). It may refer to the dawn of every day that brings about a great change in the world, and thus directs man's attention to the absolute Omnipotence of Allah. It is also possible that it refers to the dawn of some specific day. Commentators like Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and Ibn Zubair ؓ say that the word is general, and it refers to any dawn. According to another narration of Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، it refers to the dawn of the first of Muharram which is the start of the lunar-Islamic calendar. Sayyidna Qatadah رحمۃ علیہ ، among others, has interpreted it in the same way.

Some commentators, like Mujahid and ` Ikramah, refer this to the dawn of 'the Day of Sacrifice' on the tenth of Dhul Hijjah. A narration from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ concurs with this view. The reason for this specification is that according to Islamic principles, Allah has made a night to precede the day. All days are preceded by their respective nights, except the 'the Day of Sacrifice', because the night that precedes the Day of Sacrifice is not the night of Sacrifice. In fact, the preceding night, according to Shari'ah, is the night of ` Arafah. Staying at ` Arafat is the most important and foremost rite of Hajj. If a pilgrim is not able to reach ` Arafat on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, any time in the day or in the night following it to halt there for a while, he will not be considered to have performed Hajj at all. However if he arrives there any time during the night before the break of dawn on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, his halt in ` Arafah will be acceptable and his Hajj will be considered valid. This shows that the day of ` Arafah has two nights, one preceding it, and another following it. The Day of Sacrifice [ 10th of Dhul Hijjah ] has no night. From this point of view, the dawn of the day of Sacrifice, among all the days of the year, occupies a special position. [ Qurtubi ].