Gems from Juzz 'Amma: "The Sunset of our Life"

~ Gems from Juzz 'Amma ~

Day 26 / Juzz 26

Surah 'Asr: "The Sunset of our Life"

وَالْعَصْرِ

(I swear) By Time.

Allah is swearing by ‘Asr, which is almost synonymous to the word Dahr which also means time. (al-Insaan 76:1)

So Allah is Swearing by al ‘Asr (time), which implies:

1 - Allah is telling the human to reflect on the passage of Time.

2 - Man is always in loss (ayah 2), based on the proof from ayah 1 that time is always moving forward – and we humans can never get back the time we have lost.

I.e. You had so much opportunities in life which you could do good in – to get closer to Allah. You regret you didn’t do them. However, we can change these regrets into future intentions and strive to do good when opportunities come in the future.

So the Oath and it’s Response (ayah 2) are a proof for each other; Man being in loss, and him admitting that he wasted his time.

3 - ‘Asr refers to the life/durations (zamaan) of nations.
The rise and fall of nations is a proof of humans’ being in loss.

4 – The object of the Oath is a witness for the subject. I.e. Allah calls a witness for the subject. Allah is bringing time as a witness to the fact that many humans are in loss.

5 - Human beings’ chase after the world which distract them from the real purpose in life. 

People throughout history have chased after wealth, beautiful things, power etc. People chased after all these things, thinking they will achieve success, and while they were in that state – they died. This same process has been repeating generation after generation, for thousands of years, and there is one creation of Allah which has continuously been witnessing all this. It is al ‘Asr – the Time.

In other words, time is a witness to the tragedy of the human being.

Linguistic Definition:

al ‘Asr inguistically means, time that is running out. Even salaat al ‘Asr (the prayer of ‘Asr) is the last prayer of the day. (after this it is Maghrib prayer/sunset prayer = the end of the day.)

‘Asr was the time when the merchant and traveller were always in a hurry/rush, because it was a time of danger.

Allah also swears by other Times in the Qur’an;

 وَالصُّبْحِ إِذَا أَسْفَرَ

- was-subhi idha asfar – By the Morning as it brightens [Muddathir 74:34]

وَالْفَجْرِ

- wal fajri – I swear by the Dawn. – [Surah Fajr 89:1]

وَالضُّحَىٰ

wad-duha – By the Morning Sun. – [Surah Duha 93:1]

  وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّىٰ

wan-nahari idha tajal-la – By the Day when it is Brilliant. [al Layl 92:2]

But ‘Asr is a time associated with Urgency.

Whatever Allah has to say now – it is a time of Emergency. The sunset of our life is passing by. The ending of our day/life is coming soon.

Muhammad Shafee’: "The Struggle of the human being is like the one who is trying to sell ice. It is melting away and he needs to sell it quickly and make as much sales before the end of the day comes. Otherwise – all his valuables’ and efforts will go to waste."