Al-Qasas (The Stories)

73. “And it is out of His Mercy that He has made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein, and that you may seek of His grace, and that you may give thanks.”

In the verses of the holy Qur’an, the word ‘night’ is always mentioned before the word ‘day’. It may be for the reason that the darkness of the night substantially belongs to the earth and it is from the earth itself, but the light of the day is from the sun which comes to the earth.

This verse, which is, in fact, the conclusion of the previous two verses, says:

“And it is out of His Mercy that He has made for you the night and the day, that you may rest therein, and that you may seek of His grace, and that you may give thanks.”

Yes, the vastness of the expanse of Allah’s Mercy requires that He provides all the means of your life. From one side, we need to work, struggle, and run, which is not possible without the light of the day; and from another side, we need to rest and to have tranquility, which naturally does not complete without the darkness of the night.

Today, it has scientifically been proved that, because of light, all organs of the body of man become active and alive, such as: circulation of the blood, respiratory organs, the work of the heart, as well as other organs.

And if light is too much, the cells will become tired and joy and cheerfulness gives its place to weariness. On the contrary, at night, the organs of the body go into a deep tranquility and rest, and get strength and joy by it.

It is interesting that when in verse 71 it speaks of the lasting night, at the end of verse it says:

“…will you not hear”

while at the end of verse 72 it says:

“Do you not then see?”

This variation of meaning may be for the reason that the sense proportional to night is hearing and the sense proportional to day is sight. To this extreme the Qur’an uses exactness and precision.

This is also noteworthy that at the end of this verse the subject of thanksgiving is mentioned; giving thanks for the accurate system of light and darkness, a thanksgiving that causes man to know the Benefactor, and a thanksgiving which is the motive of Faith in the doctrinal subjects.