Surah 93 (Surah Duha) Translation In English

Surah 93 is called surah Duha in the Quran. It consist of 11 verses and was revealed in Mecca. The Surah talk about the bounties and blessings of Allah to His beloved prophet, Muhammad SAW.

The surah before it is surah 92 called surah lail and the surah after is surah 94, Surah Inshirah.

Surah 93 In Arabic (Surah Duha)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

1. وَالضُّحَىٰ
2. . وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ
3. . مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ
4. . وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ
5. . وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَىٰ
6. . أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ
7. . وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ
8. . وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنَىٰ
9. . فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ
10. . وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ
11. . وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ

Transliteration

• Wad duhaa.
• Wal laili iza sajaa.
• Ma wad da’aka rabbuka wa ma qalaa.
• Walal-aakhiratu khairul laka minal-oola.
• Wa la sawfa y’uteeka rabbuka fatarda.
• Alam ya jidka yateeman fa aawaa.
• Wa wa jadaka daal lan fahada.
• Wa wa jadaka ‘aa-ilan fa aghnaa.
• Fa am mal yateema fala taqhar.
• Wa am mas saa-ila fala tanhar.
• Wa amma bi ni’mati rabbika fahad dith.

Surah 93 Translation In English

• I swear by the forenoon,
• 2. And by the night when it becomes peaceful,
• 3. Your Lord (0 Holy Prophet,) has neither forsaken you, nor has become displeased.
• 4. And the Hereafter is much better for you than the present life.
• 5. And of course, your Lord will give you so much that you will be pleased.
• 6. Did He not find you an orphan, and give you shelter?
• 7. And He found you unaware of the way (the Shari’ah), then He guided you.
• 8. And He found you in need, then made you need-free.
• 9. Therefore, as for orphan, do not oppress him,
• 10. And as for the beggar, do not scold him.
• 11. And about the bounty of your Lord, do talk.

Commentary On Surah Duha From Ma’Ariful Quran.

Occasion of Revelation

Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi have narrated from Sayyidna Jundub that once a finger of the Holy Prophet was wounded and started bleeding, he said:

‘You are merely a finger that is bleeding; [what does it matter] if you are hurt: it all happened in Allah’s cause.’

Sayyidna Jundub narrated this incident and said that revelation of the Qur’an to the Holy Prophet came to a halt, and that Jibra’il stopped coming to him for a while.

The unbelievers taunted, saying: “Muhammad’s Lord has forsaken him, and is displeased with him.”

Surah Ad-Duha was revealed on this occasion.

Delay in revelation’ took place twice. Once in the very early stage of the call. This is known as fatrah al-waby ‘temporary break in the revelation’.

This was the longest period. Another narration states that when the pagans or the Jews asked the Holy Prophet about the soul, he promised them that he would give them a reply the next day.

However, he forgot to add insha ‘Allah (if Allah wills). As a result, revelation ceased for a few days.

The pagans began to taunt the Holy Messenger SAW, saying that Allah had abandoned him, and is displeased with him. It was on this occasion that the Surah was revealed.

(And the Hereafter is much better for you than the present life….93 :4).

The word ‘Akhirah may be taken in its popular sense of the ‘Hereafter’ and its opposite ‘ula may be taken in the sense of the present ‘world’.

With these words, Allah tells the Holy Prophet SAW not to be disturbed by the taunts of the pagans, because they will see in this world that their assumptions and accusations were absolutely false.

In the Hereafter, he will be blessed with Divine favours to his heart’s content much more than what he will receive in this fleeting world.

The word ‘akhirah may also be taken in its primitive sense i.e. ‘the later state or condition’ as opposed to ‘ula ‘the former state or condition’.

The verse, in this case, would mean that every succeeding moment of the Holy Prophet’s SAW life is better than the preceding one.

It includes progress in knowledge and wisdom, as well as in degrees of his nearness to Allah, and it also includes progress in economic and political fields.

(And of course, your Lord will give you so much that you will be pleased …. 93: 5).

Allah does not specify here what he will give him. The statement is open and general. The Holy Prophet will be granted everything he desires so much that he will be pleased.

Among his desired thing is the progress of Islam; the general spread of Islam in the world; fulfilment of every need of the Ummah; triumph of the Holy Prophet SAW himself over his enemies and raising the word of Allah in the land of the enemy.

In response to the unbelievers’ taunts, it was briefly mentioned that the Holy Prophet SAW has already been blessed with many Divine favours.

The Surah elaborates on three of them in particular.

Favor 1

(Did He not find you an orphan, and give you shelter? … 93:6). The Holy Prophet was an orphan. His father died before he was born, leaving no wealth or property to look after him.

The words ‘and gave you shelter’ signify that the Holy Prophet SAW received such deep love and affection from his grand-father, ‘Abd-ul-Muttalib, and after him from his uncle, Abu Talib , who took care of him more than their own children.

Favor 2

(And He found you unaware of the way [the Shari’ah], then He guided you.. ..93:7). The word dal has two meanings:

• Stray; and
• unaware.

Here it stands for the second meaning. The verse signifies that before Muhammad SAW was commissioned as the Prophet, he was unaware of Divine Shari’ah.

He was granted the status of the Prophet SAW and thus was guided.

Favour 3

(and He found you in need, then made you need-free.. . .93:8).

The word ‘a’il is derived from ‘ailah which means ‘to be in need’. The verse signifies that Allah found him impoverished and enriched him.

This happened in the beginning through a business partnership with Sayyidah Khadijah al-Kubra, then once she became his wife and ‘Mother of the Faithful’, her entire wealth was devoted to his service.

After elaborating on the three favours of Allah, three injunctions follow:

Injunction 1

(Therefore, as for orphan, do not oppress him,…93:9). The word qahr means ‘to treat people who are less powerful in an unfair and cruel way’.

In the present context, the verse means: ‘Since you were a poor orphan, and Allah sheltered you, do not oppress the orphan.’

[In words, ‘do not seize their wealth by force and squander it. Do not scorn them, humiliate them or despise them. Rather, you should be kind and gentle to them.’]

As a result, the Holy Prophet SAW emphasised that the orphan be treated kindly and gently, and has forbidden any hurting attitude towards them.

Injunction 2

(and as for the beggar, do not scold him.. ..93:10). The verb tanhar is derived from nahr which means ‘to scold’.

The word sa’il means ‘one who asks’. It includes a person who asks people’s wealth, that is, a beggar, and it also includes the one who asks a question of knowledge, that is, an academic investigator.

The Holy Prophet has forbidden to berate either of them. The best course of action is to give the beggar something.

If one is unable to give a beggar anything, one should at least apologise to him politely [so as not to give him any further grief.

Likewise, anyone who is searching knowledge and asks questions, it is forbidden to respond to him harshly and unkindly.

The teacher should reply kindly and politely. However, if the investigator is unreasonable in his approach, it is permissible to scold him to the degree that is necessary.

Injunction 3

(And about the bounty of your Lord, do talk..93:11). The verb haddith is derived from tahdith which means ‘to talk’ meaning, ‘just as you were poor and needy, and Allah made you wealthy, then talk about Allah’s favours upon you’.

Talking about Divine favours to people is one way of thanking Allah. If a person has done something good to another, he should be thanked.

Therefore, the Holy Prophet SAW is reported to have said: “Whoever is not thankful to people on their favours is not thankful to Allah.”

Ruling

It is obligatory to offer gratitude to Allah on every favour He has bestowed. (But the way of offering gratitude may be different.)

• If Allah has granted a person wealth, a part of that wealth may be spent with the sincerity in Allah’s way.
• If Allah has given a person strong body, his bodily strength may be utilised in fulfilling Divine obligations.
• If Allah has granted a person Divine knowledge, he should impart it to others.