Al-Asr العصر

By ʿAṣr

We will break off from covering the surahs in sequence from now on. We will be covering specific surahs of the Qurʾān and at the very end, we will cover surah alSajdah which is a relatively large surah to show how the theme and structure flows in larger surahs too.

Truly, man is drowning in loss

This Surah carries the central theme of the Qurʾān regarding human beings, their state, their role, and their salvation.

The word ʿAṣr comes from the root ʿayn ṣād rāʾ which was used in the following

meanings: ● To squeeze grapes or anything that contains oil, juice or honey to extract what is within ● For the liquid that drips or oozes when the object is squeezed The central meaning is to force or squeeze out what is held within by applying pressure or force such as the juice of the grapes.⁸⁸

The Arabs used this word ʿAṣr to refer to late afternoon and the reason why they did so is quite eloquent. The light and heat of the sun is at its peak and most intense at noon. From then, the light of the sun little by little, keeps on losing its intensity and ferocity till we reach late afternoon at which time, the intensity of its light is significantly less than what it was during noon.

It is almost as if the light and heat of the sun gets squeezed out of it little by little just like the juice from the grapes.

This phenomenon is called to light to state that mankind as a whole is engulfed and engrossed in loss. We will cover the contextual meaning in the next verse.

إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ لَفِى خُسْرٍ

Truly, man is drowning in loss It is phrased as a nominal sentence. Nominative sentences in Arabic imply a constant and unchanging state. Man is drowning inside loss and this is the constant state he is in.

The verse literally says “man is in loss.” This creates meanings of being immersed, entrapped and engulfed in loss. It is as if the human being is imprisoned inside a prison of loss or drowning inside it or is entrapped and totally immersed in loss. The word Khusr (loss) is indefinite which implies greatness i.e, man is not just drowning in any loss. but in a loss which is great and deadly in its nature. The verse is emphasized twofold which as explained earlier is used when the addressee is in denial of what you are saying. Man is drowning in loss left right and center but he is in denial of it. He thinks he is in profit.

The Connection

ʿAṣr means late afternoon when the light of the sun is extremely less in intensity and ferocity than it is at noon. From noon to late afternoon, the sun little by little loses its light, its light gradually loses its intensity and ferocity.

From noon to late afternoon, the sun suffers loss as its light diminishes and it loses

its intensity and ferocity. Just like the sun, the human being is suffering from loss as well.

The Sun is a metaphor for the human being. A being with dazzling brilliance and potential but one which is losing this brilliance, potential, and light - which is the very core of human essence. The light of the sun is its very essence. If the sun loses its light, what worth does it have? It becomes a worthless existence with no purpose. The human being is also losing the very light that makes him what he is. That gives him purpose, meaning and worth.

But all hope is not lost. Allah swears by ʿAṣr and not the sunset. Even though the sun loses its light and intensity by ʿAṣr, it is not all gone. It only completely goes away at

sunset. Just so, even though the human being is losing his very essence which gives him his worth, he has not lost it totally. The sun - the human being - has not yet set. There is still hope. He can still recover and reclaim his brilliance and potential. The next verse will mention how to recover this loss. It will use the word Ṣāliḥāt which at its root means rectification and correction. By means of Ṣāliḥāt, a human being can reverse his state and recover his losses.

⁸⁸ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 3, p. 1474

But for those who believed, did righteous deeds, then counseled each other with Ḥaqq and

counseled each other patiently.

The word Ṣāliḥāt is translated as ‘righteous deeds.’ It comes from the root ṣād lām ḥāʾ which was used for: ● Something free of defects ● For repairing something ● Reconciliation The core meaning of this root is for something to be sound and good in itself and to restore or repair something back to its original state after damage.⁸⁹ You can clearly see how it fits with the overall theme of the surah. Man is losing his light, damage is

being done to him. Ṣāliḥāt are actions that can repair and amend this damage and restore man back to his original glory.

Lastly, there are many ways to make plurals of a word in Arabic. Ṣāliḥāt is plural but its pattern is one that is used for something that despite being in plural, is relatively small in number. This suggests that these deeds that can repair the damage done to us are not many, they are just a few. We do not have to go to great lengths to fix ourselves. Only a few deeds will achieve this.

The first condition Allah mentions is of faith. Without belief and affirming faith in Allah and the Qurʾān, even ṣāliḥāt will be in vain and incapable of undoing the damage done. Once faith and ṣāliḥāt are achieved, the next step is to counsel others to do the same. Ḥaqq is normally translated as ‘truth.’ Its root meaning is of something being solid and firm90, and since truth is a solid and firm fact that does not change or alter, it came to be used for it. In this verse, ḥaqq means the religion of Islam as a whole because it is the firm and solid truth grounded in divine revelation. Secondly, it also refers to what has come previously in this surah because the phraseology of the last verse implies that man is in denial of the fact that he is in loss while the truth is the opposite. Hence, counselling others to ḥaqq means counselling others to the fact that they are in fact in loss and believing in Islam and doing ṣāliḥāt is the only way to get back on track.

Then patience is mentioned. Counselling others to patience is already implied by counselling others to Islam.⁹¹ Patience is being highlighted specifically. You must exert effort in emphasizing to others that patience is necessary. Believing in the truth will necessarily come with challenges and trials and one must endure them patiently. Secondly, it could also imply being patient from disobeying Allah and on being firm on ḥaqq. By this meaning it would imply a constant and stable condition of believing in the truth and of doing ṣāliḥāt, not a one off action. They counsel each other to first believe and do ṣāliḥāt, then they also counsel them to be stable and constant on this, not to be on and off.⁹² Connection to the Surahs Before and After it: 1. The Surah before it is surah al Takāthur which criticizes people for hoarding up wealth on top of other wealth unnecessarily while not fulfilling its due rights. When somebody hoards wealth in such a manner, he definitely increases in wealth but this surah says he is only increasing in loss. People are hoarding up wealth but actually they are only hoarding up loss over loss.

2. The Surah next to it is surah al Humazah which again criticizes people who hoard up wealth but it will also mention some other traits such as scorning, fault finding and backbiting. When people hoard up wealth unjustly they are actually hoarding up loss. This surah defines that loss. What type of loss did they hoard up? By developing other bad traits such as backbiting and becoming scorners, that the surah will mention.

⁸⁹ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 3, p. 1250
⁹⁰ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p.466-467
⁹¹ Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 30, p.533
⁹² al-Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, vol. 29, p. 311