Al-Qadr (The Night of Decree)

Overview

• Revelation: Meccan
• Verses: 5
• Theme: This surah describes the profound significance of Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Decree/Power), the night when the Quran began to be revealed. It emphasizes that this one night is better than a thousand months, and describes the peaceful, blessed nature of the night.
• Grammar Focus: Inna emphasis constructions, rhetorical وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا formula, comparative خَيْرٌ مِنْ structure, Form IV and V verbs, fronted predicate (khabar muqaddam), temporal حَتَّى, multiple idafah chains

Structural Overview

Verse-by-Verse Analysis

Verse 1

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Nahw-Sarf-Balagha Synthesis

Nahw (Syntax): إِنَّا is inna with its ism (subject) as the fused pronoun نَا. The khabar is the verbal sentence أَنزَلْنَاهُ. The pronoun هُ in أَنزَلْنَاهُ is the maf’ul bihi (direct object), referring to the Quran — though it isn’t explicitly named. فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ is a prepositional phrase (jar wa-majrur) acting as an adverbial of time. لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ is an idafah where لَيْلَة is the mudaf and الْقَدْر is the mudaf ilayhi.

Sarf (Morphology): أَنزَلَ is Form IV (أَفْعَلَ) from root ن-ز-ل. Form IV adds causative/transitive meaning: نَزَلَ (to descend) → أَنزَلَ (to send down, to cause descent). This form is used specifically for divine revelation — Allah “sends down” the Quran. The suffix نَا indicates first person plural (we sent down) and هُ is the third person masculine singular object pronoun (it). قَدْر from root ق-د-ر means decree, destiny, power, or honor.

Balagha (Rhetoric): Opening with إِنَّ establishes certainty — this is not speculation but divine declaration. The pronoun هُ (it) refers to the Quran without naming it, indicating its importance is so great that it needs no introduction — the listener already knows what “it” is. The idafah لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ is deliberately ambiguous: قَدْر can mean decree (the night when destinies are decreed), power (a night of immense power), or honor (a night of supreme honor). All meanings apply simultaneously.

Verse 2

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Nahw-Sarf-Balagha Synthesis

Nahw (Syntax): This contains two embedded questions. The outer question: مَا (mubtada’) + أَدْرَاكَ (khabar, as a verbal sentence). The inner question: مَا (mubtada’) + لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ (khabar). The inner question مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ functions as the second maf’ul bihi (direct object) of أَدْرَاكَ, which takes two objects: كَ (you — first object) and the entire embedded clause (second object: “what the Night of Decree is”).

Sarf (Morphology): أَدْرَى is Form IV (أَفْعَلَ) from root د-ر-ي, meaning “to cause to know.” Form IV adds causation: دَرَى (to know) → أَدْرَى (to make someone know/to inform). The alif maqsurah ending indicates a weak final radical. The past tense كَ pronoun refers to the Prophet Muhammad.

Balagha (Rhetoric): This verse is a rhetorical bridge: verse 1 mentions لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ, and verse 3 will explain it. Verse 2 creates a dramatic pause, amplifying anticipation. The question implies: “You cannot fully grasp its magnitude, but let Me tell you…” The past tense أَدْرَاكَ (made you know) is significant — some scholars note that when the Quran uses أَدْرَاكَ (past), the answer follows immediately; but when it uses يُدْرِيكَ (present), no answer is given, leaving the mystery unresolved.

Verse 3

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Nahw-Sarf-Balagha Synthesis

Nahw (Syntax): A straightforward nominal sentence: لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ is the mubtada’ (subject), خَيْرٌ is the khabar (predicate). مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ is a prepositional phrase completing the comparative construction. أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ is an idafah (number + counted noun), both in genitive: أَلْف because it’s governed by مِن, and شَهْر because it’s the mudaf ilayhi.

Sarf (Morphology): خَيْر from root خ-ي-ر on pattern فَعْل functions as an elative. It doesn’t follow the standard أَفْعَل pattern because it’s one of Arabic’s irregular comparatives. أَلْف from root أ-ل-ف is a number noun. شَهْر from root ش-ه-ر on pattern فَعْل means “month” (related to شُهْرَة = fame, because each month was “famous”/known by its characteristics).

Balagha (Rhetoric): The answer to verse 2’s question is deliberately staggering: one night equals more than 83 years — roughly an entire human lifetime. أَلْف (a thousand) is used for its rhetorical force as the largest common number, not necessarily as a precise calculation. The simplicity of the sentence structure — subject + predicate, no emphasis particles — contrasts with the enormity of the claim. The statement is so extraordinary it needs no embellishment; the fact speaks for itself.

Verse 4

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Nahw-Sarf-Balagha Synthesis

Nahw (Syntax): تَنَزَّلُ is the verb with الْمَلَائِكَةُ as its fa’il (subject). The verb takes the feminine singular prefix تَـ because الْمَلَائِكَة is a broken plural (and broken plurals of non-humans are treated as feminine singular in verb agreement). وَالرُّوحُ is coordinated as a second subject via وَ. The verse contains three prepositional phrases: فِيهَا (temporal — “therein”), بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم (manner — “by their Lord’s permission”), and مِن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ (cause/purpose — “for every matter”).

Sarf (Morphology): الْمَلَائِكَة is the broken plural of مَلَك (angel), on a rare pattern. الرُّوح from root ر-و-ح means “spirit” — commonly interpreted as Jibril (Gabriel). إِذْن from root أ-ذ-ن on pattern فِعْل means “permission.” The idafah chain إِذْنِ رَبِّهِم (“permission of their Lord”) shows how Arabic compresses complex relationships into compact constructions.

Balagha (Rhetoric): Mentioning الرُّوح separately after الْمَلَائِكَة (even though Jibril is an angel) elevates his status — he receives individual distinction. The phrase بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم establishes divine sovereignty: even on this most blessed night, nothing happens without Allah’s explicit permission. مِن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ uses the universal quantifier كُلّ to emphasize that EVERY matter for the coming year is decreed and assigned. The present tense تَنَزَّلُ indicates this happens every year — it’s not a one-time historical event but an annual cosmic occurrence.

Verse 5

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Nahw-Sarf-Balagha Synthesis

Nahw (Syntax): سَلَامٌ is the khabar muqaddam (fronted predicate), and هِيَ is the mubtada’ mu’akhkhar (delayed subject), referring to لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ. حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ is a prepositional phrase indicating the temporal limit: “until the rising of dawn.” مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ is an idafah: مَطْلَع (ism makan/zaman — a noun of place/time) + الْفَجْر (mudaf ilayhi).

Sarf (Morphology): سَلَام from root س-ل-م on pattern فَعَال means peace, safety, soundness. مَطْلَع from root ط-ل-ع on pattern مَفْعَل is an ism makan/zaman (noun of place or time), meaning “the place/time of rising.” The مَفْعَل pattern creates nouns that indicate where or when an action occurs: طَلَعَ (to rise) → مَطْلَع (place/time of rising). الْفَجْر from root ف-ج-ر means the breaking/splitting of dawn.

Balagha (Rhetoric): The surah ends with stunning simplicity. After the grandeur of verses 1-4 — divine revelation, cosmic questions, angelic processions — the conclusion is just three words: سَلَامٌ هِيَ (“Peace it is”). The brevity mirrors the tranquility it describes. The temporal boundary حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ marks a precise endpoint: this extraordinary night of peace, blessing, and angelic descent has a defined boundary — from sunset to dawn. The specificity grounds the cosmic in the earthly, reminding the listener that this blessed night is real, tangible, and waiting to be experienced.

Practice Exercises

Key Vocabulary

Grammar Summary