Surah Al-Furqaan (25) — Ayah 62

(Ayah 62) ➊ { وَ هُوَ الَّذِيْ جَعَلَ الَّيْلَ وَ النَّهَارَ خِلْفَةً:} In this verse as well, the oneness of Allah, the perfection of His power, and the reminder of His blessings—all three things are present. That is, night and day follow one another; when night departs, day arrives, and when day departs, night arrives. If it were always day or always night, the continuity of life and its activities could not remain. (See Qasas: 71 to 73) There are many signs in the alternation of night and day. (See Baqarah: 164; Aal-e-Imran: 190) One meaning of this is that day and night decrease and increase and keep replacing each other, as He said: «{ ذٰلِكَ بِاَنَّ اللّٰهَ يُوْلِجُ الَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَ يُوْلِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي الَّيْلِ وَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ سَمِيْعٌۢ بَصِيْرٌ }» [ الحج : ۶۱ ] “This is because Allah merges the night into the day and merges the day into the night, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” Tabari has narrated with an authentic chain from Ali bin Abi Talhah from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) his explanation: “Whoever misses any work at night, he completes it during the day, and if he misses it during the day, he completes it at night.” (Tabari: 26660) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ، لِيَتُوْبَ مُسِيْءُ النَّهَارِ، وَيَبْسُطُ يَدَهُ بِالنَّهَارِ، لِيَتُوْبَ مُسِيْءُ اللَّيْلِ، حَتّٰی تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا ] [ مسلم، التوبۃ، باب قبول التوبۃ من الذنوب … : ۲۷۵۹ ] “Allah spreads out His hand at night so that the sinner of the day may repent, and He spreads out His hand during the day so that the sinner of the night may repent, until the sun rises from the west.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [مَنْ نَسِيَ صَلَاةً أَوْ نَامَ عَنْهَا، فَكَفَّارَتُهَا أَنْ يُصَلِّيَهَا إِذَا ذَكَرَهَا ] [ مسلم، المساجد، باب قضاء الصلاۃ الفائتۃ… : ۳۱۵ /۶۸۴ ] “Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, its expiation is that he should pray it when he remembers it.” The Commander of the Faithful, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَنْ نَامَ عَنْ حِزْبِهِ أَوْ عَنْ شَيْءٍ مِنْهُ فَقَرَأَهُ فِيْمَا بَيْنَ صَلَاةِ الْفَجْرِ وَ صَلَاةِ الظُّهْرِ، كُتِبَ لَهُ كَأَنَّمَا قَرَأَهُ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ ] [ مسلم، صلاۃ المسافرین، باب جامع صلاۃ اللیل : ۷۴۷ ] “Whoever sleeps through his prescribed portion (of worship) or a part of it, then recites it between the Fajr and Dhuhr prayers, it is as if he recited it during the night itself.”
The meaning of {’’ خِلْفَةً ‘‘} is also “different.” In Qamoos it is: {’’ اَلْخِلْفُ وَالْخِلْفَةُ بِالْكَسْرِ الْمُخْتَلِفُ‘‘} According to this, the meaning will be that Allah has made night and day different from each other in light and darkness, heat and cold, work and rest.
➋ { لِمَنْ اَرَادَ اَنْ يَّذَّكَّرَ اَوْ اَرَادَ شُكُوْرًا :} That is, if someone is heedless due to disbelief or sin and wants to be admonished in some way, then in the alternation of night and day there is a great admonition for him—that such a great change can only be made by One who has unlimited power and complete authority. And if someone is a believer and righteous and wants to give thanks to Allah, then this change of night and day is a great blessing, for which he must give thanks. Regarding the matter of night and day, Ibn al-Arabi has mentioned an admonition: that a man whose age is sixty (60) years spends the night sleeping, so half of his life is wasted; then about one-sixth of the day is spent in rest, thus two-thirds are gone. Out of sixty (60) years of age, only twenty (20) years remain. How great is the ignorance and foolishness that a person spends two-thirds of his life in fleeting pleasure and does not spend his precious life in attaining that eternal pleasure which Allah has prepared for him with Himself.