Surah 97

AL QADR (The Night of Power or Honour)

In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2

1 We have indeed revealed this in the night of power,

2 And what will explain to you what the night of power is?

3 The night of power is better than a thousand months.

4 In it the angels and the Spirit3 come down by God’s permission, on every errand:

5 Peace! This until the rise of morn!

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  1. God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
  2. the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
    Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 
    Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
    Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
    Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
    Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
    Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎
  3. 97:4 the Spirit, this is terminology frequently used in the Taurat and Injil of someone also called the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. The Spirit is not an angel or created being, but the uncreated, eternal Spirit of God himself who was present and active at the creation of heaven and earth (see Genesis 1:2). He is also the one who moved the prophets to speak God’s Word to humankind (see 2 Peter 1:21). He also lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God. ↩︎