Al-Qur'an Surah Qaf Verse 40

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And in hours of night, proclaim His purity, and at the ends of prostration.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And glorify Him during part of the night[[ This verse refers to the times of the five daily prayers.]] and after the prayers.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And glorify Him in the night and after the prayers.

A. J. Arberry

and proclaim thy Lord's praise in the night, and at the ends of the prostrations.

Abdul Haleem

proclaim His praise in the night and at the end of every prayer;

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And in the night-time hallow Him, and also after the prescribed prostration.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And during part of the night, (also,) celebrate His praises, and (so likewise) after the postures of adoration.

Abul Ala Maududi

and in the night, too, celebrate His glory, in the wake of prostration.

Ahmed Ali

And glorify Him for some portion of the night, and additional adorations.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And say His Purity during the night, and after the customary prayers.

Ali Quli Qarai

and glorify Him through part of the night and after the prostrations.

Ali Ünal

And during (some part of) the night, too, glorify Him, and after the prostrations.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And celebrate His praises during parts of the night and after (prescribed) prostrations (in your Prayers).

English Literal

And from the night so praise/glorify Him, and (during) the prostration`s ends/backs.

Faridul Haque

And say His Purity during the night, and after the customary prayers.

Hamid S. Aziz

And glorify Him in the night and after the prescribed prostrations.

Hilali & Khan

And during a part of the night (also), glorify His praises (i.e. Maghrib and 'Isha prayers), and (so likewise) after the prayers [As-Sunnah, Nawafil optional and additional prayers, and also glorify, praise and magnify Allah - Subhan Allah, Alhamdu lillah, Allahu-Akbar].

Maulana Mohammad Ali

So bear with what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the rising of the sun and before the setting.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And glorify Him in the night and after the prayers.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And in the night-time hymn His praise, and after the (prescribed) prostrations.

Muhammad Sarwar

Glorify Him during the night and also glorify Him after prostration.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And exalt Him in the night, and at the ends of the prostrations.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And during a part of the night (also) glorify His praises and (so likewise) after the prostrations.

Wahiduddin Khan

proclaim His praise in the night and at the end of every prayer.

Talal Itani

And glorify Him during the night, and at the end of devotions.

Tafsir jalalayn

and glorify Him at [some part of the] night, that is to say, perform the two evening prayers, and after prostrations (read adbr, as the plural of dubur, or idbr as the verbal noun from adbara, `to pass'), in other words, perform supererogatory prayers as prescribed by the Sunna after the obligatory ones; it is also said to mean the actual uttering of glorifications at these times, with continuous praise.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ

And during a part of the night glorify His praises,

meaning pray to Him.

Allah said in another Ayah,

وَمِنَ الَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَى أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَاماً مَّحْمُودًا

And in some parts of the night offer the Salah with it, as an additional prayer for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqam Mahmud. (17;79)

Ibn Abi Najih reported that Mujahid said that Ibn Abbas said that,

وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ



and after the prostrations.

refers to Tasbih, i.e. glorifying Allah's praises, after the prayers.

There is a Hadith collected in the Two Sahihs that supports this meaning.

Abu Hurayrah said,

"Some poor migrants came and said, `O Allah's Messenger! The wealthy people will get higher grades and will have permanent enjoyment.'

The Prophet said,

وَمَا ذَاكَ

Why is that?

They said, `They pray as we do, fast as we do, yet they give charity, but we can not. They free slaves, but we can not.'

The Prophet said,

أَفَلَ أُعَلِّمُكُمْ شَيْيًا إِذَا فَعَلْتُمُوهُ سَبَقْتُمْ مَنْ بَعْدَكُمْ وَلَا يَكُونُ أَحَدٌ أَفْضَلَ مِنْكُمْ إِلاَّ مَنْ فَعَلَ مِثْلَ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ

تُسَبِّحُونَ

وَتَحْمَدُونَ

وَتُكَبِّرُونَ

دُبُرَ كُلِّ صَلَةٍ ثَلَثًا وَثَلَثِين

Shall I tell you about something that, if you did it, you would catch up with those who have surpassed you and nobody would be better than you except those who would do the same Say,

`Subhan Allah,
Alhamdulillah and
Allahu Akbar,'

thirty-three times each after every prayer.

Later, they came back and said, `O Allah's Messenger! Our brethren, the wealthy Muslims, heard of what we did and they also did the same.'

The Prophet said,

ذلِكَ فَضْلُ اللهِ يُوْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاء

This is a favor and grace of Allah, and He grants it to whom He wills."

There is another way of explaining the Ayah.

It is that Allah's statement,
وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ
(and after the prostrations),

refers to the two Rak`ahs after the Maghrib prayer.

This was reported from Umar bin Al-Khattab, Ali bin Abi Talib and his son Al-Hasan, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Umamah, may Allah be pleased with them.

This is also the saying of Mujahid, Ikrimah, Ash-Sha`bi, An-Nakha`i, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Qatadah, and others