Surah Al-Layl English Translation & Brief Tafsir

¹O people! By the night, which with its darkness covers the sun like a black veil…

²And by the day, which after pitch darkness lights up the earth brightly and brings it into view, and lays bare before your eyes what the night had hidden…

³Do you not see how night and day follow one another in perfect order? By Allah, the possessor of boundless power, who created all living things in pairs, female and male: your Lord created you so that you would live in keeping with the order of life and the morality to which He invites you. Why, then, do you associate partners with Allah, who has bestowed countless blessings on you?

⁴Surely your efforts, the deeds you do, and the goals you aim to reach differ widely. Just as your conduct differs, so too will the recompense for that conduct differ. For the difference between these two paths and their outcomes is as great as the difference between night and day, darkness and light, male and female. Some of you believe and act with honesty and virtue, while others of you choose disbelief and injustice.

⁵So whoever among you gives, setting aside a share in Allah’s way for those in need from the wealth and means Allah has graciously granted him, and refrains from defying Allah…

⁶And affirms, not only with his tongue but also with the way he lives, the finest word, expressed as “La ilaha illallah,” which declares that there is no god but Allah…

⁷Then We, for Our part, will open the way for those who use their means to live the Allah-centered life that is the purpose of their creation, and will make it easy for them to reach a path that leads to peace and happiness.

⁸But whoever is miserly, not using in this cause the blessings Allah has graciously granted him and avoiding helping the poor and the needy; whoever says of the poor, “Let Allah feed them!”, behaves arrogantly because of his wealth, and considers himself in no need of Allah and of His guidance…

⁹Whoever rejects as a lie the finest word, expressed in the words “La ilaha illallah,” which declares that there is no god but Allah, and the verses that come from his Lord,

¹⁰then We, for Our part, will make easy for him the hardest road, the one that leads to Hell, because he paid no heed to Our call and stubbornly went on living as he pleased. For this is his own choice.

¹¹When death comes upon him and he plunges headlong into the pit of Hell, his wealth, his property, his position, and his children, which he relied on in the world and for whose sake he was miserly, will be of no use to him at all.

¹²As a requirement of this world of trial, We give people free will and leave them free in their choices. Surely it rests with Allah alone to show the right path, by sending revelation and prophets. In this way We explain tawhid to you, show you the right path, and make it plain that shirk is wrong.

¹³Let those who imagine that power and dominion belong to them not forget this: the true Owner of both the Hereafter and the life of this world is Allah. In this world and in the Hereafter alike, the right to establish an order and lay down rules belongs to Allah alone.

¹⁴O people! I have warned you, then, that if you deny tawhid and Our messenger Muhammad, you will enter that terrifying, fiercely blazing fire of Hell. Do not turn away from the reason for your creation and throw yourselves into the fire. Believe in Allah’s call, grasp its importance, and live with a sense of responsibility.

¹⁵None will enter it but the most wretched: those who turn their backs on the guidance of revelation and are incorrigibly defiant.

¹⁶Those heedless ones denied the Quran, which shows the truth as plainly as the sun, and the prophets, and turned away from faith. O people! So do not turn away from the reason for your creation and throw yourselves into the fire. Believe in Allah’s call, grasp its importance, and live with an awareness of your responsibilities.

¹⁷But those who carefully guard against everything that would cost them Allah’s good pleasure, and the believers who believe in His call and do all they can to live by it and keep it alive, will be kept far from that fire.

¹⁸Those self-sacrificing believers are the ones who, not deceived by position and rank, give their wealth in Allah’s way to those in need, and so purify themselves of all the impurities of jahiliyyah (ignorance).

¹⁹He does not give his wealth to repay a favor done to him. For he owes no one a favor or a debt of gratitude. Your Lord is pleased with those who, purifying themselves of worldly expectations, share what they have with those in need. Know that there is no other way for a person to be purified.

²⁰He gives his wealth to the poor willingly, not for fame and renown, but to win the good pleasure of his Lord, the Most High. The believers, too, share what they have with those in need, in order to exalt Allah and to please Him.

²¹And soon he himself will surely be well pleased with the endless blessings his Lord will graciously bestow. When the time comes, Allah will reward these people far beyond what they have done. Just as day follows night, the path of those who spend their wealth in Allah’s way also leads out into the light in the end. O people! Give for the sake of your Lord’s good pleasure, expecting nothing in return, so that you may be purified.