Exegesis of Surat al-Fajr from its beginning to the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And the night when it quiets."

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the sixty-second session of the weekly gatherings that take place every Thursday. This Thursday is the twenty-first of the month of Muharram in the year 1415. It has been our custom to speak about what Allah the Exalted and Sublime has facilitated from the exegesis of the Noble Qur'an, which we began with Surat al-Naba' and have now reached Surat al-Fajr.
So we say, and by Allah we say: Allah the Exalted and Sublime said: Allah the Exalted swore by five things:
The first is the dawn. The dawn is the bright light that appears in the eastern horizon near the rising of the sun. The time between it and the rising of the sun ranges from one hour and thirty-two minutes to one hour and seventeen minutes, and it varies according to the seasons. That is, sometimes the interval between the dawn and the rising of the sun is long, and sometimes it is short, depending on the season. There are two dawns: the true dawn and the false dawn. The dawn intended here is the true dawn. The difference between the true dawn and the false dawn is from three aspects. The first aspect: the false dawn is elongated in the sky; it is not broad, but rather long. As for the true dawn, it is broad, extending from north to south.
The second difference is that there is no darkness after the true dawn; rather, the light increases until the sun rises. As for the false dawn, darkness occurs after it; darkness follows after this light. For this reason, it is called false, because it fades and disappears.
The third difference is that the true dawn is connected to the horizon, whereas there is darkness between the false dawn and the horizon.
These are three visible, perceptible differences that people know when they are in the open countryside. However, in cities, they do not know this, because the lights obscure these signs.
Allah swore by the dawn because it is the beginning of the day, and in reality, it is a transition from pitch darkness to a bright dawn.
Allah swore by it because no one is able to bring about this dawn except Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: .
Allah swore by the dawn because legal rulings depend on it, such as the abstention of the fasting person. When the dawn appears, it is obligatory for the fasting person to abstain, whether his fast is obligatory or voluntary, if he intends to complete his fast.
It also entails the entry of the time for the Fajr prayer. These are two great legal rulings, the most important of which is the entry of the prayer time. That is, we must pay more attention to the dawn for the sake of the entry of the prayer time than we do for the sake of abstention during fasting. Why? Because in abstaining from things that break the fast, if we assume we made a mistake, we are building upon a principle, which is the continuation of the night. But in prayer, if we make a mistake and pray before the dawn, we are not building upon a principle, because the principle is the continuation of the night and the non-entry of the prayer time. For this reason, if a person prays Fajr one minute before the entry of the prayer time, his prayer is voluntary and does not absolve his duty. Therefore, we call upon you, O brothers, to note this issue, meaning: to be careful about the entry of the Fajr prayer time. Because many mu'adhdhins call to prayer before the dawn, and this is an error, because the call to prayer before the time is not prescribed. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): When does the presence for prayer occur? I ask you? When its time enters. So if a person calls to prayer before the entry of the prayer time, his call is not valid, and he must repeat it. Being careful about the entry of the dawn is very important for observing the prayer time.
And His saying, the Exalted: It was said: The intended meaning of the ten nights is the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah. The days were called nights because the Arabic language is broad; nights may be mentioned when days are intended, and days may be mentioned when nights are intended. It was also said: The intended meaning of the ten nights is yes. It was also said: The intended meaning of the ten nights is the last ten nights of Ramadan.
As for the first group, who say that the intended meaning of the ten nights is the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, it is because the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah are noble days. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about them: ... A little provision .
As for those who said that the intended meaning of the ten nights is the last ten nights of Ramadan, they said: The original meaning of nights is nights, not days. And they said: The last ten nights of Ramadan contain the Night of Decree, about which Allah said that it is And He said that it is: And He said: This opinion is stronger than the first opinion, even though the first opinion is the opinion of the majority. However, the wording does not support the opinion of the majority. Rather, the second opinion is preferred, which is that it is the last ten nights of Ramadan. Allah swore by these nights because of their honor, because they contain the Night of Decree, and because the Muslims conclude the month of Ramadan with them, which is a time of an obligation from the obligations of Islam and a pillar of Islam. Therefore, Allah swore by these nights.
As for His saying: It was said: The intended meaning is all of creation. All of creation is either even or odd, correct? All of creation is either even or odd. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: Acts of worship are either even or odd. So the intended meaning of the even and the odd is everything that is created, whether even or odd, and everything that is prescribed, whether even or odd.
It was also said: The intended meaning of the even is all of creation, and the intended meaning of the odd is Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Know that His saying: has two correct recitations, and they are: Meaning: If you say: it is correct. And if you say: it is also correct. They said: The even is creation, because all created things are composed of two things, and the odd is Allah, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And if a verse can be understood in two meanings and there is no contradiction between them, then it should be attributed to all the meanings the verse can bear. This is the rule in the science of exegesis: if a verse can be understood in two meanings and one does not contradict the other, it is attributed to both meanings.
Allah the Exalted said: Allah also swore by the night when it quiets. "Yasr" means moving in the night. The night, as we know, moves; it begins with Maghrib and ends with the rising of the dawn. It moves as time moves; it does not stop. So it is always in motion. Allah swore by it because of the acts of worship in its hours, such as the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers, standing in night prayer, the witr prayer, and others. And because there is a great occasion in the night, which is that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says: For this reason, we say: The last third of the night is a time of response. A person should seize this opportunity to stand for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to perform tahajjud, and to supplicate to Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, for whatever good of this world and the Hereafter he wishes, hoping that he may encounter a time of response and benefit from it in his worldly life and his Hereafter.
Let us stop here in order to answer the questions, as is the custom. Then we inform you that each person has one question, and that there is no commentary on the answer until we are able to allow a larger number of people to ask their questions.