On Surah ad-Duha: Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered after the Isha prayer on May 13, 2026Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Editor's note: The transcript of this lecture is badly garbled (with fragmentary English passages whose speaker is unclear), and only the following could be established from it; no explanation that was not stated has been added.

The session opens with a supplication: «اللهم سلِّم لنا قلوبنا، واحفظ علينا عافيتنا، واهدنا سبلنا، وارضَ عنا وارضنا، وتجاوز عن سيئاتنا وخطايانا، واغفر اللهم لنا تقصيرنا في حق ديننا يا أرحم الراحمين» ("O Allah, keep our hearts sound, preserve our well-being for us, guide us to our paths, be pleased with us and make us pleased, overlook our misdeeds and errors, and forgive us, O Allah, our shortcomings toward our religion, O Most Merciful of those who show mercy").

Ad-Duha among the surahs of the oath

The topic of tonight is Sūrat ad-Duḥā. The speaker passes through other surahs that open with an oath: ﴿وَالْفَجْرِ * وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ * وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ﴾ ("By the dawn, and by ten nights, and by the even and the odd"), then ﴿وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰ * وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّىٰ * وَمَا خَلَقَ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَىٰ * إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ …﴾ ("By the night when it covers, and by the day when it appears, and by He who created the male and the female, indeed your efforts …"), then ﴿وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا * وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا * وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا * وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا﴾ ("By the sun and its brightness, and the moon when it follows it, and the day when it displays it, and the night when it covers it").^[3]

﴿مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ﴾ ("Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor detested you")

Then he recites Sūrat ad-Duḥā: ﴿وَالضُّحَىٰ * وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ * مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ * وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ … * وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَىٰ﴾ [ad-Duḥā: 1-5] ("By the morning brightness, and by the night when it grows still, your Lord has not forsaken you, nor detested you; and the Hereafter is better for you than …; and your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied"). Here the transcript contains an English passage whose speaker is unclear, whose general meaning is that «ما ودّعك ربك وما قلى» ("Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor detested you") is like telling a person: I am not ignoring you, I am not leaving you alone, I am with you.^[1]

Then: ﴿أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ * وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ * وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنَىٰ﴾ [ad-Duḥā: 6-8] ("Did He not find you an orphan and give you refuge? And find you lost and guide you? And find you in need and make you self-sufficient?"), and he pauses at «فأغنى» ("and made you self-sufficient"). He mentions the orphan and Muhammad, peace be upon him.

From al-Baqarah

Then he moves to Sūrat al-Baqarah and recites: ﴿وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ * الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ * أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ﴾ [al-Baqarah: 155-157] ("And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth, lives and fruits; but give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and it is those who are the guided"), and he pauses at «أولئك عليهم صلوات من ربهم ورحمة» ("Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy") and repeats it, and at this point in the transcript «very important» appears, without it being clear who said it. Then: ﴿إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنْ حَجَّ الْبَيْتَ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ …﴾ [al-Baqarah: 158] ("Indeed, as-Safa and al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever makes the pilgrimage to the House or performs the 'umrah, there is no blame upon him for walking between them …").

As for the orphan, do not oppress

Then he returns to ad-Duha: ﴿فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ * وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ * وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ﴾ [ad-Duḥā: 9-11] ("So as for the orphan, do not oppress; and as for the one who asks, do not repel; and as for the blessing of your Lord, speak of it"). After it comes an English passage whose speaker is unclear, containing a question: what blessing is it? Then, as worded in the transcript: «The blessing is talking to you».^[2] The lecture ends with «بارك الله فيكم» ("May Allah bless you").

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The English phrase in the transcript is fragmentary («I'm not ignoring you… I’m not leaving you alone… be with you»), and only its general meaning has been rendered. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: In the transcript: «What kind of blessing? The blessing is talking to you», with what precedes and follows it cut off; so the speaker's intended meaning cannot be asserted beyond that, and the phrase was not translated, lest a meaning be constructed from it. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not name these surahs in the transcript; the attribution is from the editor: al-Fajr: 1-3, al-Layl: 1-4, ash-Shams: 1-4. The completion of the ad-Duha verse is ﴿وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ﴾ [ad-Duḥā: 4], and after «خير لك من» ("better for you than") nothing appeared in the transcript except what follows it.