Transliteration:( kaanoo qaleelam minal laili maa yahja'oon )
"They used to sleep little[16] at night."
This means they were spending the nights in offering Tahajjud and in the remembrance of Allah Almighty.
Only a little of the time was set aside for sleeping, and they considered even this sleep as an error, spending the mornings seeking repentance from Allah.
From this, we understand that it is not ideal to spend the entire night sleeping. Similarly, remaining awake throughout the night is not beneficial.
The Sunnah method is to sleep in the first part of the night and devote the latter part to offering Tahajjud. Afterward, one should sleep again.
Some scholars have stated that the Ansaar practiced this by going home after Isha prayer, sleeping for a while, then offering Tahajjud, and finally attending Fajr prayer in congregation at Masjid al-Nabawi. This was considered an act of worship, as was their sleeping.
This is the very meaning of the verse being Madinite (Tafseer Roohul Mu'ani).
The tafsir of Surah Ad-Dhariyat verse 17 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Dhariyat ayat 15 which provides the complete commentary from verse 15 through 23.
(51:17) they used to sleep but little by night,[15]
15. Some commentators have given this meaning of this verse: Seldom did it so happen that they spent the whole night sleeping and did not spend a part of it, in the beginning of the night or in the middle or in the end of it, awake in the worship of Allah. This commentary with a little variation in wording has been related from lbn Abbas, Anas bin Malik, Muhammad al-Baqir, Mutrif bin Abdullah, Abul Aliyah, Mujahid, Qatadah, Rabi bin Anas and others. According to some other commentators, it means this: They spent the major part of their nights in the worship of Allah Almighty and slept little. This meaning has been reported from Hasan Basri, Ahnaf bin Qais, and Ibn Shihab Zuhri, and the later commentators and translators have preferred this, for this appears to be in better agreement with the words of the verse and the context.
[1538]- i.e., spending a portion of the night in prayer and supplication.
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