Sūrah Al-Fajr The Dawn: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالفجرMakkī 30 versesDawn oath, three destroyed nations, tranquil soul

Key DisagreementWhat are the "ten nights" sworn by (89:2)?Oath subject identityAl-Ṭabarī: the first ten nights of Dhū l-Ḥijjah through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, and the prophetic narration affirming their virtue

Competing OpinionsIs the "tranquil soul" (nafs muṭmaʾinnah, 89:27) a description of all believers or a specific high category?Scope of descriptionAl-Ṭabarī: all believers whose souls have achieved tranquility through faith not an elite category; through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās

MethodologyChain verification of the ten nights identity through prophetic narrationProphetic chain for oath identityAl-Ṭabarī uses the prophetic chain affirming the Dhū l-Ḥijjah ten nights as the oath subject a marfūʿ chain takes precedence over Companion opinion

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The ten nights (89:2) generate competing chains: some say the last ten nights of Ramaḍān, others say the first ten of Dhū l-Ḥijjah, others say the first ten of Muḥarram. Al-Ṭabarī collects all chains and then presents the prophetic chain from Ibn ʿAbbās through the Prophet: "There is no deed that is better with Allah than deeds done in these ten days" referring to the first ten of Dhū l-Ḥijjah. Because this is marfūʿ (attributed to the Prophet), Al-Ṭabarī places it above Companion opinions and uses it to identify the ten nights as Dhū l-Ḥijjah.

The "tranquil soul" (89:27–30) "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, satisfied and satisfying; enter among My righteous servants; enter My Paradise" is analyzed by al-Ṭabarī through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās as the divine address to the soul at the moment of death. The "tranquility" (iṭmiʾnān) is achieved through faith and certainty not merely emotional peace. Al-Ṭabarī traces chains on whether this address occurs at death, at the resurrection, or at the entry into Paradise his tarjīḥ: at death, when the soul is being taken.

وَالْفَجْرِ وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ Wa-l-fajri wa-layālin ʿashr "By the dawn and ten nights." (89:1–2) Al-Ṭabarī presents the competing chain set (Ramaḍān vs. Dhū l-Ḥijjah vs. Muḥarram) then selects the Dhū l-Ḥijjah identification through the prophetic chain from Ibn ʿAbbās a marfūʿ ḥadīth takes precedence over Companion opinions.

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً Yā ayyatuhā l-nafsu l-muṭmaʾinnatu rjiʿī ilā rabbiki rāḍiyatan marḍiyyah "O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, satisfied and satisfying." (89:27–28) Al-Ṭabarī presents chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on the moment of this address at death, the soul in a state of tranquility through faith is called to return to its Lord in a state of mutual satisfaction.

Marfūʿ precedence: Al-Ṭabarī's use of the prophetic chain to settle the ten-nights debate over competing Companion opinions is a model of his hierarchy of evidence.
Tranquil soul moment: His tarjīḥ that the divine address to the soul occurs at death not the resurrection is based on chain analysis of the context.
Three nations summary: ʿĀd (89:6–8), Thamūd (89:9), and Pharaoh (89:10–12) are presented in the most compressed Quranic form al-Ṭabarī cross-references fuller accounts.
Human attitude critique: 89:15–20's critique of the human attitude toward wealth (testing = honor; testing = humiliation) is analyzed through chains as the Quran's correction of the prosperity-equals-divine-favor assumption.
Muṭmaʾinnah scope: Al-Ṭabarī's chain-based treatment of the tranquil soul as all believers not an elite democratizes one of the Quran's most beautiful epithets.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

Finished this lesson?