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Chapter 97

The Ordainmental-Qadr ( القدر )

5 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that mentions the moment in which God first revealed the Quran, calling it The Ordainment. It is named after the phrase “the night of ordainment” (laylay al-qadr), mentioned in verse 1. The surah celebrates the night when the first revelation of the Quran was sent down.«

The surah is also known as Determination, Honour, Power, The Glory, The Night of Empowering Decree, The Night of Glory, The Night of Power

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Yusuf Ali: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1
إِنّا أَنزَلناهُ في لَيلَةِ القَدرِ

Yusuf Ali

The chronology of this Sūra has no significance. It is probably Meccan, though some hold that it was revealed in Medīna.
The subject-matter is the mystic Night of Power (or Honour), in which Revelation comes down to a benighted world,—it may be to the wonderful Cosmos of an individual — and transforms the conflict of wrong-doing into Peace and Harmony — though the agency of the angelic host, representing the spiritual powers of the Mercy of God.
C. 277 | [97:1-5] Blessed indeed is the Night of Power!— when the Mercy of God’s Revelation breaks through the darkness of the human soul! All the Powers, of the world divine, speed on their mystic Message of Mercy, by God’s command, and bless every nook and corner of the heart! All jars are stilled in the reign supreme of Peace, until this mortal night gives place to the glorious day of an immortal world!
We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power:1
  • Cf. n. to 44:3. Literalists refer to some particular night in the calendar, but there is no agreement as to which it is. The 23rd, 25th or 27th night of Ramadān, as well as other nights, have been suggested. See, however, the Introduction to this Sūra. It is best to take this in the mystic sense, which also accords with verse 3 below, which says that the Night of Power is better than a thousand Months. It transcends Time: for it is God’s Power dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, by His Revelation, in every kind of affair.