Surah AL-ASR / The Declining Day in English | Surah 103

Description of Surah Al-Asr

Surah Al-Asr is the 103^rd chapter of the Holy Quran. Located just after Surah At-Takathur, it is a Meccan surah.

Introduction

It is a surah of self-transformation, as the scholars say.

Surah Al-Asr shows us a roadmap for not falling into ruin. It is not a surah that speaks directly of how to achieve success, but rather, more precisely, of what is expected of us so as not to be among the losers in the Hereafter.

It reminds us to place at the centre of our concern the responsibilities of each of us as Muslims. The main subject is the duty to focus on our own responsibilities, which Allah describes to us. It is a call to greater humility that the Holy Quran enjoins all Muslims to adopt by reminding themselves every day of these very short verses.

In this Surah Al-Asr, Allah describes man in a state of weakness, of loss, and then the criteria by which He will judge a person's success on the Day of Judgement are described. In the same way, in the chapter Al-Ma'arij, Allah speaks of the impulsive nature of man (another weakness) and immediately after He mentions the qualities of the believers, at the top of which stands constancy in prayer as a remedy for it.

Every time Allah makes an observation about the weakness of the human being, He, to Him the Majesty and the Glory, gives immediately afterwards the remedy to be resorted to.

The first verse is an oath by Allah, who swears that men, from the beginning of the history of humanity until the Day of Judgement, are doomed to their loss.

And the other verses are the standards that lead to success in the Akhira. These are the criteria of those who have worked in the best manner and passed it on to their following generations, and they are the ones who have succeeded on the Day of Judgement.

These verses therefore speak of the 4 essential criteria for success. The minimum for success is contained in these verses, of which the first is like that seed, that faith, which bears fruit in actions in order to avoid being among the losers.

According to the scholars, in the time of the Prophet, two companions who met and spent time together would not part before having recited Surah Al-Asr, and then they would greet one another.

It is one of the two smallest surahs of the Quran and represents the essence of the life of the Muslim, the essence of the message of Allah.

This chapter is built in three verses but it is a single sentence.

Vocabulary of the chapter Al-Asr

Allah begins the surah using the word Wa, which means that it is an oath. It is an unusual opening intended to attract the attention of the believers.

Asr : the word Time by which Allah swears in this surah comes from the verb to press, to extract little by little something that will give us liquid, oil, or honey, and to mix while flowing gently. But also something powerful that will destroy, like the wind.

The time up until the moment of Al-Asr, in the middle of the day, has flowed gently, and as it passes the time flows faster and faster until it reaches sunset. The Arab poets used the word Asr to evoke a time past, poorly used, which indicates to us that al-asr can be understood as all the time we have lost.

Time presses us, but also protects us; this is why this explanation is positive, because the idea of al-asr is that we still have time left.

In a few words, the meaning to remember is that there is a balance to be found between the regrets one may feel due to neglected time, but also the urgency and the hope of making up for the lost time we have left to live.

Inna : When Allah begins with Inna it is a certainty, a way of insisting on the observation He gives.

Insan : human being comes from the word nissyan, which means the act of forgetting. Every human being without exception is on the road to his loss. Because the responsibility that falls upon us is something easy to forget. It is important to remember this, because Allah placed humanity first when speaking of those who are on the road to their loss, for afterwards He places the believers in the part of those who are the exception. He addresses human beings in general first in order to highlight the believers, those who work toward success. And He, ta'ala, enumerates the minimum criteria that this sincere belief generates.

Khousr : great loss. It is the nominal form chosen to amplify the situation: he does not merely forget to the point of going toward his loss. He is plunged into forgetfulness and therefore into his loss. Every kind of loss, to one degree or another, he is in his loss.  

In Surah Al-Kahf the losers are called Al-Akhsarin A'mala : those whose works are doomed to loss.

Illa : except, with the exception of…

Amanou : those who believe

'amilou : those who have done good works

Tawassaou : those who mutually enjoin one another, who advise one another

Haq : truth

Sabr : patience

Such are the four characteristics for the one who wishes to save his soul from the great ruin that awaits him on the Day of Judgement:

Faith

Good works

The mutual enjoining to truth

The mutual enjoining to patience.