Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Wallaili izaa yaghshaa

Wannahaari izaa tajalla

Wa maa khalaqaz zakara wal unthaa

Inna sa'yakum lashattaa

Fa ammaa man a'taa wattaqaa

Wa saddaqa bil husnaa

Fasanu yassiruhoo lilyusraa

Wa ammaa man bakhila wastaghnaa

Wa kazzaba bil husnaa

Fasanu yassiruhoo lil'usraa

Wa maa yughnee 'anhu maaluhooo izaa taraddaa

Inna 'alainaa lal hudaa

Wa inna lanaa lal Aakhirata wal oolaa

Fa anzartukum naaran talazzaa

Laa yaslaahaaa illal ashqaa

Allazee kazzaba wa tawallaa

Wa sa yujannnabuhal atqaa

Allazee yu'tee maalahoo yatazakkaa

Wa maa li ahadin 'indahoo min ni'matin tujzaaa

Illab tighaaa'a wajhi rabbihil a 'laa

Wa lasawfa yardaa

In the Name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful

By the night when it covers;

And [by] the day when it appears;

And [by] He who created the male and female;

Indeed, your efforts are surely diverse!

As for him who gives and has taqwa

And believes in the best [reward],

We will pave his way to ease.

But as for he who is tight-fisted and considers himself free of need,

And denies the best [reward],

We will pave his way to hardship.

His wealth will not help when he falls [into Hellfire].

Indeed, guidance is up to Us,

And indeed to Us belong the hereafter and the first [life].

So I have warned you of a Fire which is blazing .

None will enter it but the most wretched one,

Who rejects the truth and turns away.

But the one who has taqwa will be far removed from it;

He who gives what he owns to purify himself,

Not as repayment for favours received,

But only to seek the Countenance of his Lord, the Most High;

And, surely, he will be satisfied.

Surat AI-Layl was revealed in Makkah. It consists of twenty-one verses. The surah begins with a series of oaths. The night and the day are the two signs frequently evoked in the Qur'an. The male and the female - like the day and the night - are two opposite elements and point to their Creator.

This surah gives a brief summary of the basic choices placed before man. The sharing of wealth, taqwa (fear of Allah) and the belief in the best reward in the hereafter are basic virtues. Allah eases the way of the true believers to the good life and the way of the disbelievers and wrongdoers to the life of hardship.

If a person becomes aware of the right thing but continues to do what is wrong, then Allah eases his way to hardship. For example, a young man who tells lies will gradually become mature in telling lies and one day he will turn into a compulsive liar. He would not even be able to distinguish between falsehood and truth. On the other hand, if a person gets into the habit of doing good, Allah will ease his way to doing more and more good deeds, and ultimately he will earn Allah's Pleasure.

Source: Islamic Studies, Darussalam Publication.