تَتَجَافَىٰ جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًۭا وَطَمَعًۭا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.
Introduction
This is āyah 16 of Sūrat As-Sajda (The Prostration), the 75th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 21. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 75 of 114
- Surah
- As-Sajda (32)
(Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope�) [32:16]. Said Malik ibn Dinar: �I asked Malik ibn Anas about whom this verse was revealed and he said: 'Some of the Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to stand in prayer from after the prayer of Maghrib until the time of the prayer of 'Isha', and so this verse was revealed about them' �. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri' informed us> Abu'l-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Daynuri> Musa ibn Muhammad> al-Husayn ibn 'Alawiyah> Isma'il ibn 'Isa> al-Musayyib> Sa'id>> Qatadah> Anas ibn Malik who said: �This verse (Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope) was revealed about us, the Helpers. We used to perform the Maghrib prayer and did not return to our homes until we performed the 'Isha' prayer with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace�. Al-Hasan and Mujahid said: �This was revealed about those who keep the prayer of the night vigil�. This is substantiated by the report with which Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Khashshab informed us> Ibrahim ibn 'Abd Allah al-Asfahani> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Sarraj> Qutaybah ibn Sa'id> Jarir> al-A'mash> al-Hakam> Maymun> Ibn Abi Shabib> Mu'adh ibn Jabal who said: �While we were with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, at the Battle of Tabuk, suffering from the heat, people dispersed. I looked around and found that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was the closest person to me. I drew closer to him and asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, tell me about a deed which will cause me to enter the Garden and distance me from hellfire'. He said: 'You have asked about a great matter which is easy to do for whoever Allah, exalted is He, makes it easy: It is that you worship Allah, exalted is He, and not associate anything with Him, perform the prescribed prayers, pay the obligated poor-due, and fast the month of Ramadan. But if you will, I will inform you about all the doors of goodness'. I said: 'Do inform me, O Messenger of Allah!' He said: 'Fasting is a shield; almsgiving expiates sins, and the standing of a man in prayer in the middle of the night, seeking the countenance of Allah, exalted is He'. Then he read this verse: (Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope)�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
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