A009
Surah: 078 - Ayah: 009
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78:9
Although sleep is the name of a thing, during which the senses of a person stop working, nonetheless, there are different degrees of it, and the supreme kind of sleep, is the sleep of the Prophets and awliya', in which the body and the senses sleep, but the glorious chain of the remembrance of God continues. The wise Qur’an, praising this sleep says: “And We made your sleep a thing of repose (subat)” (78:9). By this sleep is meant the sleep of a supreme kind, in which by the blessings of the remembrance of God, not only do the intellect and soul attain peace, but also the body.
It is mentioned in a noble Hadith: “The Qur’an is tractable and multi-dimensional, so take it on the best of its dimensions”. (al-Ittiqan, IV, 184). Thus the Qur’an says in one of its wisdom-filled verses: “Wa ja`alana nawmakum subata (And We made your nawm as a repose)” (78:9). Nawm here has two meanings: sleep and spirituality, and accordingly it can be translated as: “And We made your sleep a repose”, or “And We made your spirituality a repose”. For, in this verse the Qur’an addresses both the awliya’ and the masses at the same time and accordingly it has different meanings. For one group it is spirituality and for the other it is sleep.
This verse has been referred 3 times.