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Al-Muzzammil - 73:1
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The Command to stand at Night (in Prayer)
Allah commands His Messenger to cease being wrapped up, and this means to be covered during the night. He commands him to get up and stand in prayer to His Lord.
This is as Allah says,
تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفاً وَطَمَعاً وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend out of what We have bestowed on them. (32:16)
Thus, the Prophet did as Allah ordered him, by standing for prayer at night. This was obligatory upon him alone, as Allah said,
وَمِنَ الَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَى أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَاماً مَّحْمُودً
And in some parts of the night offer the Salah with it (the Qur'an), as an additional prayer for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqam Mahmud. (17:79)
Al-Muzzammil - 73:2
Here Allah explains how much prayer he should perform. Allah says,
يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ
O you wrapped up!
قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلً
Stand all night, except a little.
Ibn 'Abbas, Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi all said,
يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ
(O you wrapped up!)
"This means, O you who are asleep."
Qatadah said, "The one who is wrapped up in his garments."
Al-Muzzammil - 73:3
Concerning Allah's statement
نِصْفَهُ
Half of it
Means, instead of the whole night.
أَوِ انقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلً
A little less than that
Al-Muzzammil - 73:4
أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ
or a little more
Meaning, 'We have commanded you to stand in prayer for half of the night, either a little more than it or a little less. There is no hardship on you concerning that (slight increase or decrease).
The Way of reciting the Qur'an
Concerning Allah's statement,
وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْانَ تَرْتِيلً
And Rattil the Qur'an Tartil
Meaning, recite it slowly, for that will help in understanding the Qur'an and contemplating it. This is how the Prophet used to recite.
A'ishah said, "He (the Prophet) used to recite the chapter slowly, so much so that it would be longer than chapters that were actually longer than it."
In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is recorded from Anas that he was asked about the recitation of the Messenger of Allah , so he replied, "He used to elongate the letters."
Then he (Anas) recited,
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. (1:1)
And he elongated "In the Name of Allah,"
And he elongated "The Most Gracious,"
And he elongated "The Most Merciful."
Ibn Jurayj reported from Ibn Abi Mulaykah, who narrated from Umm Salamah that she was asked about the recitation of the Messenger of Allah , so she said, "He used to pause in his recitation, verse by verse.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
الْحَمْدُ للَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ
الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ
مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is Allah's, the Lord of all that exists.
The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Only Owner of the Day of Recompense. (1:1-4)
This was recorded by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.
We have already mentioned the Hadiths which prove the recommendation of slow rhythmic recitation and beautification of the voice while reciting at the beginning of this Tafsir. For example, the Hadith which states,
زَيِّنُوا الْقُرْانَ بِأَصْوَاتِكُم
Beautify the Qur'an with your voices.
And the Hadith,
لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ لَمْ يَتَغَنَّ بِالْقُرْان
He is not of us who does not chant nicely with the recitation of the Qur'an.
And the Hadith,
لَقَدْ أُوتِيَ هَذَا مِزْمَارًا مِنْ مَزَامِيرِ الِ دَاوُد
Verily, he has been given this windpipe from the windpipes of the family of Dawud. Referring to Abu Musa.
Abu Musa replied, "If I knew that you had been listening to my recitation, I would have truly beautified it for you." It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he said, "Do not scatter the (recitation of) Qur'an out like the scattering of sand, and do not rush through it like the hasty recitation of poetry. Stop at its amazing parts and make your heart move with it. None of you should let his concern be to reach the end of the chapter."
This has been recorded by Al-Baghawi.
Al-Bukhari recorded from Abi Wa'il that he said, "A man came to Ibn Mas'ud and said, 'I read the Mufassal chapters (from Qaf to An-Nas) last night in one unit of prayer.'
Ibn Mas'ud said, 'This is rushing like the haste of reciting poetry.'
Al-Muzzammil - 73:5
The Magnificence of the Qur'an
Allah then said,
إِنَّا سَنُلْقِي عَلَيْكَ قَوْلاً ثَقِيلً
Verily, We shall send down to you a Word Thaqil.
Al-Hasan and Qatadah both said, "The actions with it."
It has also been said that it means it will be heavy at the time of its revelation due to its magnificence. This is similar to what Zayd bin Thabit said. He said, "The Messenger of Allah received some revelation while his thigh was on top of my thigh, and my thigh was almost crushed due to it."
Imam Ahmad recorded from 'Abdullah bin 'Amr that he said, "I asked the Prophet, 'O Messenger of Allah! Do you feel anything when revelation comes (to you)'
The Messenger of Allah replied,
أَسْمَعُ صَلَصِلَ ثُمَّ أَسْكُتُ عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ فَمَا مِنْ مَرَّةٍ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ إِلاَّ ظَنَنْتُ أَنَّ نَفْسِي تُقْبَض
I hear a ringing and then I remain quiet when that occurs. There has not been a single time that revelation has come to me except that I thought that my soul was about to be taken (death).
Ahmad was alone in narrating this.
In the beginning of Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is recorded from 'A'ishah that Al-Harith bin Hisham asked the Messenger of Allah, "How does the revelation come to you"
The Prophet replied,
أَحْيَانًا يَأْتِي فِي مِثْلِ صَلْصَلَةِ الْجَرَسِ وَهُوَ أَشَدُّهُ عَلَيَّ فَيُفْصَمُ عَنِّي وَقَدْ وَعَيْتُ عَنْهُ مَا قَالَ
وَأَحْيَانًا يَتَمَثَّلُ لِي الْمَلَكُ رَجُلًأ فَيُكَلِّمُنِي فَأَعِي مَا يَقُول
Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and it is most severe upon me. Then this state passes away from me after I have grasped what is inspired.
Sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.
'A'ishah added, "Verily, I saw him receiving revelation and I noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead on a very cold day as the revelation ended."
This is the wording recorded by Al-Bukhari.
Imam Ahmad recorded from 'A'ishah that she said, "If the Messenger of Allah received any revelation while he was on his riding animal, it would begin moving its Jiran intensely."
The Jiran is the bottom of the neck.
Ibn Jarir chose the interpretation that it (the revelation) is heavy in both ways simultaneously. This is as 'Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said, "Just as it is heavy in this world, it will also be heavy on the Day of Judgement in the Scales."
