Duha

Surah Ad-Duhaa is the 93rd surah of the Quran, comprising 11 verses. It declares that God never abandoned His Prophet, recalls the blessings of his past, and names the responsibilities those blessings bring. Opening with oaths by the morning brightness and by the night when it grows still, the surah gives the assurance 'Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He despise you,' and the glad tidings that the Hereafter is better for him than the first life, the end better than the beginning. The Prophet is reminded that he was an orphan and was sheltered, was searching and was guided, was in need and was enriched. Three duties follow: do not oppress the orphan, do not repulse the one who asks, and proclaim the blessing of your Lord. For every reader passing through a dark season, Ad-Duhaa has long been read as a surah of consolation against despair.

Revelation & background

Surah Ad-Duhaa is Meccan. As related in authentic sources, revelation ceased for a time, and the polytheists began saying that the Prophet's Lord had abandoned him; the surah came in answer, declaring that his Lord had neither forsaken him nor grown displeased with him. This well-attested context directly explains the surah's character as a message of consolation.

Major themes

Its main themes are divine consolation, the remembrance of blessings, and gratitude turned into conduct. 'Your Lord has not forsaken you' (93:3) dissolves the anxiety born of the pause in revelation, and 'Your Lord will surely give you, and you will be well pleased' (93:5) is a promise turned toward the future. Deliverance from orphanhood, from searching, and from need (93:6-8) presents personal history as a record of grace. The closing commands — do not oppress the orphan, do not turn away the one who asks, and proclaim the blessing (93:9-11) — establish a moral order in which kindness received is repaid by kindness to others.