The Alternation Of Night And Day

The Alternation Of The Night And Day

In the name of Allāh the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful., all praise is due to Allāh, Lord of all that exists. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allāh alone without any partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger (ﷺ) his family and all his companions.

O Allāh, teach us that which will benefit us, and benefit us with what You have taught us, and increase us in knowledge, and rectify all of our affairs, and don’t leave us to our own for even a blink of an eye. 

As to what proceeds…

In a past sitting, I spoke about these tremendous verses towards the end of Ṣūrat al-Furqān and what it comprises from the characteristics of the slaves of The Most Merciful.

Allāh (ﷻ) mentioned them in praise and elevated their ranks and it concluded with what Allāh (ﷻ) has prepared for them in regards to a tremendous reward and a lofty return.

And He (ﷻ) mentioned before mentioning their characteristics, and perhaps we can stop with this and pause for a bit with these tremendous and magnificent verses calling to the oneness of Allāh (ﷻ) and His Magnificence, and calling to contemplate and consider. 

Indeed, it is the succession of the night and day. 

“And He it is Who has put the night and the day in succession, for such who desires to remember or desires to show his gratitude.” (25:62)

So Allāh (ﷻ) made the night and day upon this characteristic, succeeding each other. The night comes and the day succeeds it. Then, the day comes and the night succeeds it. The days and nights are described with this description of succession. 

In it is a tremendous sign that points to the greatness of The Originator, and the Perfection of The Creator, The Administrator (ﷻ) that He made the night and day with this description.

If you want to contemplate more, reflect on what Allāh (ﷻ) mentions in regards to this verse in another Sūrah from the Book of Allāh (ﷻ) when He said, 

“Say (O Muhammad ﷺ): "Tell me! If Allāh made night continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is an ilāh (a god) besides Allāh who could bring you light? Will you not then hear? Say (O Muhammad ﷺ): "Tell me! If Allāh made day continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is an ilāh (a god) besides Allāh who could bring you night wherein you rest? Will you not then see?" (28:71,72)

If the affairs were upon this description, the night was continuous forever or the day was continuous forever, how would the condition of the people be? The people are in need of the night to rest therein, and the day to carry out their livelihood and live their lives. 

“It is out of His Mercy that He has put for you night and day, that you may rest therein (i.e. during the night) and that you may seek of His Bounty (i.e. during the day), and in order that you may be grateful.” (28:73)

So the night is for resting and the day is for the livelihood. So if life was continually night or the day was forever, how would the life of the people be?

However, from the mercy of Allāh and His favors is that He made the night for His slaves to rest therein, and made the day so they can live and seek provisions. 

And this is from the signs of Allāh (ﷻ) that is befitting for every believer to use this as an opportunity to remember and consider. As our Lord (ﷻ) said in the verse that we heard, 

“for such who desires to remember.” (25:62)

Because it contains a lesson. However, these lessons and admonishments from these tremendous verses are not actualized except with contemplation and reflection of these verses and these creations show the magnificence of its Creator.  

“Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.” (3:190)

It’s not for everyone.

“Those who remember Allāh (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.” (3:190,191) 

So whenever an individual contemplates on these verses he will definitely be guided to the magnificence of the Creator and the Perfect Originator (ﷻ).

“or desires to show his gratitude.” (25:62)

And this is also a way to reflect on the divine blessings and mercy upon the slave that He made their lives pass this way, night and day; in this is gratefulness towards the Most Generous, because, if you finished your day with strength, you praise Allāh (ﷻ).) If you wake up from your sleep with your body at ease, you praise Allāh, because you go back and forth with Allāh’s bounties from night and day. 

And it comes in the Sunnah that our Prophet (ﷺ), and it was from his guidance, that when he would go to his bed, he would say, “Praise is to Allāh Who has provided us with food and with drink, sufficed us and gave us an abode for how many are there with no provision and no home.”

So he praised Allāh, and if he woke up from his sleep, he praised Allāh (ﷻ), “Praise is to Allāh Who gives us life after He has caused us to die.”

So praise is for the end of the day and praise for the end of the night as well. 

The night contains the blessings of slumber, sleep and rest. The day contains the blessing of seeking livelihood and provisions.

Allāh (ﷻ) is praised for His blessings and thanked for His favors and bounties.

And this is necessary from the believing slave to be aware of this blessing. And don’t waste the blessing in what will displease the Most Generous.

And don’t turn a blessing to what will incur the wrath of the Most Generous (ﷻ).

So if your soul encourages you to disobedience in the night, remember that this night is a sign of Allāh and one of His blessings. And it is not befitting for the slave that Allāh (ﷻ) blesses him with this tremendous blessing and he wastes it or uses it in what’s forbidden. 

And likewise if it’s the day and your soul encourages you to disobedience, remind yourself that this day is a sign from Allāh that points to His Magnificence, His Perfection and Loftiness. So how can he spend his day disobeying his Lord (ﷻ)!

It is also befitting, in regards to this context, that the individual be aware that these nights and days, in reality, are a part of a person’s life, because the nights and days of a person’s life are few. For everyday and night that passes from your life, you get closer to your appointed time.

And the individual rejoices with the day he seeks, and everyday that passes he is closer to his appointed time.

So these days and nights are a part of your life. You are only a part of time. When your appointed time ends, you depart this world, and “(For) each and every matter there is a Decree (from Allāh).” (13:38)

And this also is an invitation to consider and to be conscious. And with this understanding, a ḥadīth comes from ibn ‘Umar, “If you reach the evening then do not expect to reach the morning, and if you reach the morning then do not expect to reach the evening.”

So if Allāh (ﷻ) blesses you and favors you to be from the people that reach the morning and you praise Allāh for this blessing and you said in the beginning of your morning, “O Allāh, by your leave we have reached the morning.” You are from those that have reached the morning, don’t consider yourself from those who will reach tomorrow, and the same goes for the evening.

“O Allāh, by your leave we have reached the evening.” The evening that Allāh has blessed you with and made you from those who have reached it, don’t consider yourself from those who will reach tomorrow.

So an individual takes from his days what he needs from his nights and vice versa. And what will aid you in this matter is remembering the tremendous ḥadīth of the Prophet (ﷺ) in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, the ḥadīth of Abī Mūsa al-‘Asha’ri he said, the Messenger of Allāh stood amongst us and he said five things:  

“Verily Allāh does not sleep nor is it befitting of Him to sleep. He is the One who lowers the scales and raises them. The deeds of the night go up to Him before the deeds of the day and the deeds of the day before those of the night and His veil is light and if he were to remove it the splendor of His face would burn all of creation, as far as his sight reaches."

So his (ﷺ) saying, “The deeds of the night go up to Him before the deeds of the day and the deeds of the day before those of the night.” This makes the serious individual compete with his self because if the night comes the deeds of the day are raised. The deeds of the day are raised in any form, few or many. 

So here the people vary in righteous actions. And similar to it, look (at the condition of an individual) when the deeds of the night are raised and the portion (of deeds) of the individual in that night are raka’āt, standing in front of his Lord and reciting His Speech, His remembrance and seeking forgiveness. Look at this tremendous success for this slave.

As oppose to (and Allāh’s refuge is sought) the one who ends his night in disobedience or watching the impermissible, that which has distracted many of the people nowadays, from watching movies and other than that which keeps them up late at night. How is the condition of those when their deeds are raised?

So the individual in this regard is conscious and reflects and competes and hastens to do righteous deeds because when the night comes his deeds of the day are raised. And when the day comes, the deeds of the night are raised. 

So the individual seizes the opportunity of his day before the night comes and seizes the opportunity of his night before the day comes, because everything is raised in its time so he hastens. 

So this night and day, no doubt, contains lessons and admonishments for the slaves and it is a tremendous and blessed opportunity to reflect and remember. It is also a way to actualize the gratefulness to the Most Generous (ﷻ).

And gratefulness is not just praising the Most Generous upon the tongue; rather it is praising the Most Generous upon the tongue, acknowledging the blessings with the heart, and using the limbs in the obedience of Allāh, as Allāh (ﷻ) said, "Work you, O family of Dawūd (David), with thanks!" But few of My slaves are grateful.”

May Allāh (ﷻ) make us all from those that remember Him, that are grateful to Him, and those that return to Him. We ask Him (ﷻ) to accept our repentance, and purify our sins, and forgive our faults, and make our evidence firm, and to make our tongues upright.

Oh Allāh, set aright for us our religion that is the safeguard of our affairs and set aright for us the affairs of our world wherein is our living. And set aright for us our Hereafter on which depends our after-life. And make the life for us a source of abundance for every good and make our death a source of comfort for us protecting us against every evil.

O Allāh, forgive us, our parents, our scholars, our leaders, the Muslims, the believers, the ones that are alive, and the ones who have passed away. O Allāh, grant us safety in our lands, and make our leaders upright, and make us and them a guidance and those guided, O Lord of all that exists.

O Allāh, apportion for us such fear that should serve as a barrier between us and acts of disobedience; and such obedience that will take us to Your Paradise; and such certainty that will make easy for us to bear in the calamities of this world. 

O Allāh! let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as You keep us alive and make our heirs from our own offspring, and make our revenge restricted to those who oppress us, and support us against those who are hostile to us let no tribulation afflict our religion; let not worldly affairs be our main concern, or the ultimate limit of our knowledge, and let not those rule over us who do not show mercy to us!

O Allāh, You are free from every imperfection and praise be to You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.

O Allāh, send your Ṣalāt and Salām on your slave and messenger our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.