إِنَّ فِى ٱخْتِلَٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَمَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ لَءَايَٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَّقُونَ
2:165; 3:191; 23:81.
Commentary:
In the present verse the words, for a God-fearing people, have been substituted for the expression, for a people who have knowledge, occurring in the previous verse. This has been done because though the natural phenomenon of the alternation of day and night is known even to the most ignorant person, it is only the God-fearing that derive real spiritual benefit from a reverent study of it. Similarly, the ordaining of various stages for the moon and the sun, of which the previous verse spoke, was not so easy a thing as to be perceived and understood by each and every person and therefore only those endowed with knowledge could benefit from it. Hence it is that where the Quran speaks of the alternation of day and night, it uses the words "God-fearing people"; and where it refers to the stages of the moon and the sun it uses the words "a people who have knowledge".
The phenomenon of the alternation of day and night continues without interruption. Day is followed by night and night by day. This phenomenon resembles the rise and fall of nations. The days of their glory and prosperity are followed by the nights of their decline and degradation. No nation has ever enjoyed perpetual glory, nor has any people forever floundered and groped in the darkness of degradation and decline. But the analogy must not be too far stretched, for the verse does not speak of the "length" of days and nights but only of their "alternation". A people may make their day of prosperity long and shorten their night of decline. So let no people delude themselves with the idea that, because periods of light and darkness or, for that matter, of prosperity and decline, must follow one another, therefore, if they are overtaken by spiritual night it is only inevitable and that soon the day will dawn. For the night may become long or even too long. Similarly, it is in the power of man to postpone the coming of the night. Indeed, although nations are subject to the law of growth and decay, this does not mean that they should make no effort to check and arrest the process of decay and retrieve their lost prosperity. By implication the Meccans are told in this verse that God has caused the day of glory to dawn upon them through the Holy Prophet and it is now for them to work out their destiny and carve a bright future for themselves while it is yet day and before the darkness of night again overtakes them.
2:165; 3:191; 23:81.
In the present verse the words, for a God-fearing people, have been substituted for the expression, for a people who possess knowledge, in the preceding verse. This is because though the natural phenomenon of the alternation of day and night is known even to an ignorant person, it is only the God-fearing that derive real spiritual benefit from a reverential study of it. Also, the ordaining of various stages for the moon and the sun, to which the preceding verse referred was not so easy a thing as to be perceived and understood by each and every person and therefore only those endowed with knowledge could benefit by it. Moreover, the phenomenon of the alternation of day and night resembles the rise and fall of nations. The days of their glory and prosperity are followed by the nights of their decline and degradation. No nation has ever enjoyed perpetual glory, nor has any people for ever floundered and groped in the darkness of degradation and decline. A people may make their day of prosperity