 We will look at the various oaths specific to Surat Al-Fajr and try to reach to the verse of Al-Feedalika Qasamun Ladi Hajar and therefore this will probably be the main area of Quran that one will need to look into. We will go through several other verses so we can make mention and note of those but in particular those will be the verses that I would suggest that we have to hand and open in front of us at all times. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Peace be upon Muhammad and his family. Our study on Surat Al-Fajr is by virtue of the tradition that comes to us from our 60 ma'am Imam Ja'far al-Assad peace be upon him and his family. In which our master tells us to recite this chapter of the Holy Quran in both our obligatory and our additional prayers. For he who recites this chapter in those prayers will find that he inshallah is alongside the master of the martyrs on the day of judgment in that very same station of paradise with him. And therefore by virtue of this particular verse it is not only the final verses of Surat Al-Fajr that we can see the master of the martyrs in. It is the entire chapter that we will observe the movement within. And so far we have come to a number of distinct and important theories and conclusions. The first of which is that the Quran has a number of layers. We mentioned that the Holy Prophet of Islam and the sixth Imam have concurrent traditions whereby they tell us that Quran each verse has 70,000 layers to it. And therefore what we have been trying to show is that when you peel each layer and you go deeper into the ocean that is the Holy Quran you will ultimately go through various forms of understanding and meaning per every single verse. And then yesterday we took some time to understand the methodology of the oaths of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And we found that there are many times in Quran where Allah Himself takes an oath and we found many times in Quran where human beings can also take an oath. And we mentioned that there are five principle styles of oath. One where Allah may negate an oath. He may say I'm not going to take an oath by such a thing. And then we showed that there are four types of ways in which someone can take an oath. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la most often takes the oaths with the letter wao. We call this wao al qasam. For example he says wa al-asr or wa shamsi wa duhaha. And we highlight here that the purpose of the oath is in order to make a great emphasis. Emphasis upon what? The Jawaab that is going to be made after the oaths. There is always a response from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. A deep lesson that is associated to those oaths. So for example in Surah Al-A'asr we have wa al-asr. I swear by time. Inna al-insana lafi khusr is the Jawaab. It's the lesson that he himself is trying to deliver to the hearts of human beings. And therefore there needs to be a balance between these two so that however deep the lesson is, whatever the ocean that is being presented to us within that lesson, the number of the oaths must have a balance so that there is an understanding between both the oath and the Jawaab itself. And then lastly we went a little bit further and said that each oath is not randomly chosen by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. This is very important as we recall to lead ourselves into this discussion of the oath within Surah Al-Fajr. They're not randomized. They're not picked because they sound nice or because they rhyme. They are picked because they are distinct and have a purpose in regards to the oath themselves. There must be a relation specifically with the oath and the Jawaab. We mentioned yesterday that the Jawaab, the response from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in Surah Al-Fajr, is the statement to us where he says, Inna Rabbakalabil Milsad, that surely your Lord is ever watchful. He is ever watching. And therefore if that is the deep Jawaab, straight away we can see that there must be that correspondence between the oaths and that particular Jawaab. These early oaths by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la must be correlating and related to the Jawaab itself. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Wal Fajr. Wal Ya'al-e-Nashr. Wa Shaf'i wal-Watil wal-Layli Ida. Yassr. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la takes the following oaths. I take the oath by the dawn. I swear by Fajr, dawn. Wal Ya'al-e-Nashr and by the ten nights. And as he continues here, he presents us with the odd or the even and the odd. He says, Wa Shaf'i wal-Watil wal-Layli Ida. Yassr. And by the nights in which departs. So here we have a series of oaths which Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is presenting to you and I. Straight away one can begin to ponder and ask yourselves, What does Fajr, the dawn, have to do with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being ever watchful? Because we have been stating to you that in the methodology of the oaths there is a direct link. There has to be a correspondence here. So what is corresponding between the dawn and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la ever observant? What is the link between the even and the odd and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being ever watchful? Does this make sense? If I was to ask you the question, What was the direct link between the leaving of the night, the departing of the night tonight? The night goes and the dawn comes. What does that have to do with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la stating that he is ever watchful over the oppressors? And therefore we can see that straight away there must be something very deep within these oaths. And therefore that next line is, Certainly within these oaths there is a deep truth, a great understanding for the one with intellect. For the one who possesses that knowledge, that ability to grasp my oaths, you will find there will be a huge and deep lesson within this. Thus know that I am ever watchful. So when we come to understanding the tafsir of this, as we stated to you in the first night, that every mufassir, every commentator of Quran, he or she will approach a verse in accordance with the concept that he or she wants to present. What do we mean by this? Somebody may look entirely at a verse in a grammatical way. There are scholars who have performed the entire tafsir of Quran just looking at the grammar of the Quran. For example, famous scholars like Zamaqshari, the Sunni scholar, or for example a scholar like Allama Tabatabay, they dedicate a lot of their time towards grammar, towards understanding how the root word of a verse may come into play. And therefore you will only find that facet. And therefore they won't delve into others. Or for example, Sheikh Tabrasi in Majmul Bayan, he will look at language as well called Lugha, but he'll look at the history of a verse. Why was it revealed? Where are other verses found in similitude? Then you have another famous scholar, for example, Ahmadi Puyah. May Allah bless him. Ahmadi Puyah is very strong in knowledge of polemics. So he will look at each verse in accordance with understanding how it might form and understanding between Islam and Christianity or the various sects and households within Islam. And therefore obviously the idea is to observe that scholar in light of his or her writing. Therefore to understand the oaths, you can't just go to one scholar. One scholar will only give you one facet, one side of the verse. Therefore as we go tonight, you will see that we will delve further and further and further into the realities of these oaths. What is said at the beginning will be completely different to what is said at the end. But that doesn't mean the verse doesn't mean that. It means that is the deeper layer within that particular verse. So the first stage is always to look at a verse from a very simplistic outer meaning. We need to understand the outer of what's being said. Before we can go deeper into the philosophies of any particular verse. We have some verses that we will take here. While Fajr will try to understand. While Shafi'ah will try to understand. Dawn. I take an oath by the dawn. What is this dawn that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is presenting to us? At a face value, dawn is exactly what it means in that dawn is a period in the morning. Fajr as we know, we often use it for the time in which we are going to awake for our morning prayers. We can call it Sadat al Fajr and we wake for our dawn prayers. And therefore at a very face value, of course when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes an oath by Fajr, by dawn, he means this period in the morning. Why would he take an oath by this period within the morning? Very much so because the morning time, that's period in the darkness of the night and the first few rays of light as the morning presents itself to us is the most spiritual time of the day. There are things that are happening within that time. There are times when the angels are most observant for our prayers to present them towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And for the one who really seeks change within his own heart, for the one who really seeks to move forward on a spiritual level, there is no better time than the period of Fajr at all other than this time. And therefore we find many verses talk about this. As an example, within chapter number 73, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says one of the most intriguing verses. He says, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem, that by the rising of the night, inna nashi'at al-layl hi'ashaddu, surely by the rising of the night, is the firmest way to tread and the best corrective of your speech. Now think about that, we all have our spiritual weaknesses. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala elevate us and help us to remove ourselves from those. Whatever spiritual weakness I have, just introspect for a minute. Whatever spiritual weakness I have, how long have I been fighting that spiritual weakness? Maybe my eyes often look at someone that they shouldn't in the school or the workplace. Maybe my tongue is one that cannot be controlled. Maybe I am unable to wake up for the morning prayers. Whatever it is that my spiritual weaknesses are that haven't been engulfing me in my life. Just think about that weakness that is here in front of me. What levels of effort have I been putting in to overcome them? I have no doubt that we have all been trying our very hardest. However, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes us a very key statement here. He says, surely by your rising within the night, that is the firmest way to tread and the best corrective of speech. Meaning that if you want to change yourself, if you want to be able to move, progress spiritually, the night that's period of fudger, that time is the very best time in which to make those steps towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Why? Because you're all alone. There's no one watching. There's no ego. There's no going to Sajdah in the hope that someone else sees me. There's no time to think about anything else other than the quiet that my Lord has presented for me. I am able to converse with Him without the TV being on. I'm able to converse with Him maybe without looking at the clock. The night is the quiet period when others are all sound asleep, but I am sitting with my Lord alone, conversing with Him privately. And therefore this time is the very best time. In fact, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala suggests that this is not only a time in which He wants you to present yourself, but His additional blessings are there for the one who comes and speaks with Him. He has a verse in Surah Al-Baqarah verse number 78 in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that surely the recitation of Qur'an at the Fajr time is witnessed. Now one would say surely Qur'an being recited is witnessed at all times. We have just read Qur'an. Is it not witnessed now? Is there a block at this time? But it's available to be listened to at Fajr? No. At Fajr, your recitation is witnessed. Because at that time Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognizes the extra work that you are putting into your own soul. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in that famous Hadith Qudsi, you take one step towards me, I'll take ten towards you. You walk towards me, I'll run towards you. Imagine your Lord, the creator and sustainer of this universe that has open outstretched arms. Come back to me, my servant, for that is all that I want from you. Therefore, while Fajr, I take an oath by this dawn. As we move forward, for example, we see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes an oath by ten nights. The scholars have many opinions on this and this will be the main theory for us tonight to look into these ten nights. For example, some scholars say that these ten nights are ten nights in regards to the last ten nights of Shahramadhan. Because these are the nights in which Qadr is presented for us. These are the nights in which is the conclusion of the grandest month of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Or another idea is, Waleali and Asher, these ten nights are the ten nights that were made in addition to the 30 that was given to Musa A.S. As we know, he was requested to come for an initial period. But then there was an additional ten nights made to that. And therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala adds to this and he takes an oath by these ten nights. It's interesting because here, if we see that the relationship between Musa A.S. additional ten and Rasulullah's last ten in Shahramadhan, we find it's about revelation. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses these two periods of ten nights to reveal books towards his messengers. And therefore I take an oath by these ten nights when books were revealed towards humanity for the sake of guidance. And then you also come, for example, to the leaving, the departing of the night. And again this is similar to Walfajar, that we have given you this period of the dawn and now we tell you that this period of movement within the soul is now leaving you as well. So these are very face value meanings. These are the ones which the scholars want us to know so that as a principle we know that there is a reasoning towards these. But of course we need to go deeper and ultimately our topic is to see this entire chapter in light of the movement of Karbala. And we find that the pivot, the most important verse that provides us with the understanding of it being a relation to the movement of Karbala is the verse which says he takes an oath by these ten nights. The reason why it's these ten nights and the reason as to why this is the pivot to understand the oaths is because you find that the scholar who attributes a deeper meaning to these ten oaths also uses this to make a correlation between the rest of the verses. Meaning that when he sets a precedent for the deeper understanding for these ten nights he also makes those in accordance with the rest of the oaths. If we say that the ten nights are the ten nights of Muharram then I swear by the dawn also has to relate to Muharram. The Shafi'ah and Watar also needs to relate to Muharram and the departure of the night also needs to relate to Muharram. So therefore these ten nights are a pivot and whatever the scholars see about these ten nights they make the rest of the oaths in accordance with that one particular oath. Let us look at this in a more deeper manner. The scholars here now present to us that there are a number of meanings to these ten nights. Most of the scholars tell us that these ten nights are the first ten nights of the month of Dhul-Hajjah. Dhul-Hajjah as we know is which month? The last month of the Islamic calendar. What happens in these first ten nights of Dhul-Hajjah? The pilgrimage of Hajj takes place between this period. As we know many of us will have gone this last year just gone. May Allah take us everywhere insha'Allah. That when we go to Hajj we know that the period of Hajj the cycle and the movements are taking place mostly within these ten nights. And therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes an oath by these ten nights. I take an oath by these ten nights of Dhul-Hajjah. Therefore there needs to be a correlation. The rest of the oaths are also in regards to these ten nights. What are they? For example, this is the even and the odd. Which even and odd? Which even and odd in regards to Hajj is being spoken about here? If ten nights are Hajj, then even and odd is Hajj. Even is in regards to the numbers. Which nights? Ten. The odd is in regards to the ninth night. Because we find on these nights great things happen within Hajj. On the ninth night is the night of Adafa. And on the tenth is the day of sacrifice. And therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes an oath by Hajj. And by these particular events. Another scholar says that these ten nights are Hajj. And therefore the even and the odd are Safa and Marwa. And the odd being one, being the Holy Ka'ba. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes an oath by the movements between Safa and Marwa. Being the one and two. And the Ka'ba being the singular, being the witter. And therefore Allah says I take an oath by this Ka'ba. Here we have to go a little bit deeper. Now we understand it's Hajj and we can see these correlations. We find that this movement of Karbala, as we stated, is clear for us within Surat al-Fajr. The first verse, well Fajr. And the first letter of the first verse, wow. And we stated that this wow al-qasam is distinct in regards to the oath of allegiance that was demanded of the master of the martyrs by Walid and by Marwan. And therefore if the beginning of the chapter is in regards to the oath then well Fajr. We highlight here that the scholars state that these ten nights are in regards to Hajj. Does Hajj and the movement of Hajj not have a direct correlation with the movement of Aba'abdillah? Of course it does. What happens sequentially, brothers and sisters? What happens in the chronology of the history of Karbala? Go back to your minds of history. There is a demand by whom Walid and Marwan, Aba'abdillah makes that famous statement whereby he says that a man like me can never give bay'at to a man like him. The next thing that takes place is on the 28th of Safar, Aba'abdillah and his great family and companions depart the city of Medina. They then get to the city of Makkah and they spend Shawwal and Dhulqada and Dhul-Hajjah in the city of Makkah. They begin to perform their Hajj, do they not? As they begin to perform their Hajj, which two dates are most significant in regards to the first ten nights of Dhul-Hajjah, the eighth and the ninth? The even and the odd. The even and the odd, the eighth and the ninth, why? Because the eighth of Dhul-Hajjah is the date sixty after Hijrah in which Aba'abdillah curtailed his Hajj and left Makkah for that final time. On the ninth of Dhul-Hajjah, the blessed body of Hazret Muslim ibn Aqeel was slaughtered and hung from the gates of Kufa. Are these incidents in history not so grand that they are the even and they are the odd? When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, I take the oath and I start with the oath, it is the oath in regards to Walid and Marwan. When he talks about Walail and Asher, it is these ten nights of this particular month of Dhul-Hajjah. But the grandest events within that Hajjah indeed are in regards to Aba'abdillah leaving the city of Makkah and what happens to Muslim ibn Aqeel. When Imam stands in front of the Ka'bah, he gives a sermon. He announces I am leaving and he gives his famous reasoning because we cannot bear to see the sanctity of the Ka'bah being violated. Here we cannot have our blood being shed in such a holy precinct. And I tell you, he says, and now we are leaving. Indeed, death comes to mankind just like a girl wears her pearl necklace. It is part and parcel of what you see in a daily basis. Death will come to mankind and for the one who is willing to give their blood in our cause, they should now depart with us. Do you see how the whole situation flows? We take an oath by the dawn and we take an oath by the ten nights and by the evening and by the odd and by the night when it departs. Aba'abdillah made that very same statement that you should come with me for the one who is willing to shed their blood in order to sacrifice for the sake of God should be departing with me upon this night. And then when you see this statement, you see this movement, this chronology of what takes place in Makkah. You begin to see that even these beginning oaths are indeed about the movement of Aba'abdillah. And then we find the commentators go further. It's interesting, one would say is that not deep in itself, how you have linked each every oath in regards to Aba'abdillah. That the dawn, while Fajr isn't just the dawn, it is the dawn of his revolution. It is the movement in itself. And how is it not deep already that we have found that the eighth and the ninth is the even and the odd. And how is it that when he departs is that this is the movement in the night in which he's departing. Is there more? Indeed there is more. Indeed the scholars go even deeper into this chapter. One scholar, Sheikh Tablessi from Majmu'al Bayan, he says, wa shaf'i wal watar that the even and the odd specifically relate or are in message of two personalities. That the even are of two and the odd is of one. The even are specific to Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah al-Zahra whilst the odd is about Rasulullah Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Just think about this for a second. We are seeing that the movement of Karbala is taking place. I swear by the dawn, the dawn of the revolution of Hussein. I swear by these nights, these ten nights in which Aba'abdillah needs to leave his Hajj. And I swear by this even and this odd. And I swear by this night in which Aba'abdillah is going to depart that city of Makkah. But then at another level, this same even and odd, instead of being dates, instead of being numbers, they are representative of people, individual people. The even is two. The odd is one. The even is commander of the faithful and the lady of light whilst the odd is the holy messenger of Islam. Now, I want you to work backwards here now. Let's work backwards, not forwards. The first of the oaths is what? I swear by the dawn. Then the next of the oaths is by ten. Look at it from the number, the numerical side, ten. Then I take an oath by two. Then I take an oath by one. Who can do the maths? What does the numbers conclude? One, dawn. Ten comes to eleven. Eleven plus two, which is shafa, comes to thirteen. Witter being one, being Rasoolallah, comes to fourteen. I take an oath by dawn. I take an oath by ten. I take an oath by two and I take an oath by one. And there is such a depth to this oath if only you understood it, he says. What a wonderful sequence. Therefore, if you work backwards, you find that if Witter is Rasool and Shafa is Ali and Fatima, then ten is ten Imams and the last one is the dawn being the awaited saviour. I take an oath by these fourteen personalities. Surely in there is such a deep oath for the one who possesses an understanding. And then I will tell you about the tyrants of Aad and Thamud and Fir'aun. And then I shall tell you, in Nara'baqala Bermil Sa'ad, most certainly I am watching these tyrants and what they are doing. Fourteen against tyrants. And Allah is ever-observant of both the fourteen and the group of tyrants. You see how it goes into such levels of depth for us to understand that one verse, when you peel away an understanding, you come to a new one, and to a new one, and to a new one, until you begin to realize that this Qur'an can only be in honour of Ahlul Bayt, for them to truly understand and present to us in order to get a glimpse of that Book of Allah. You see here, when you say numerical, ten is very important. So he said here that now this is the dawn, firstly the dawn of the revolution of Aba'abdillah. Then it comes to the light of all fourteen. But the number of ten should be just understood for a minute as a spiritual lesson. Ten is a number of course. In Islam, and this is very important brothers and sisters, ten or any number in Islam is not just a number. It is representative of something. You see many times we have traditions, we have verses which provide to us a number. And we will try to understand them. What does it mean by such and such a number? But they are representative of something. Let me give you an example. In Qur'an, we have the most famous of verses from Surat Al-Qadr, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Allah says that in this night of Qadr, what makes you understand this night of Qadr, that it is greater than a thousand months. What does he mean by this? Why a thousand? Why not two thousand? Why not five thousand? The reason being is because the number one thousand is representative of something that is beyond our capacity. It is representative of something that is so grand that there is no possible way for us to understand, to fathom, have a true glimpse of what is the grandiosity of that night of Qadr. Similarly, all numbers have that way. Let me give you an example. We have the number 70. Have you ever come across those traditions that say, he who talks whilst Qur'an is being recited about worldly deeds, or he who speaks about worldly events whilst Adhan is being recited will lose 70 years worth of his abadah? Have you come across those traditions? They are very famous. Understand it from another level. Yes, one can say literally 70. But then you go deeper and you say, well, hang on a minute, my Lord, is that just? As in, I only live maybe to 60 or 70. I don't even have 70 years worth of abadah because there are times when I was ignorant, times when I sleep, times when I wasn't even at the age of Baalik. So maybe I have accumulated only 10 years of actual positive abadah in my life. You're telling me that if I speak once during Adhan being recited about a worldly issue, I only done 10 years worth of good deeds but you're going to subtract 70 from me. So I end up with minus 60. Is that what the tradition really means? It doesn't mean that. 70, again, is representative. Every number in Islam is representative of something. 70 is representative of your lifespan. You see, Ahle al-Bayt have a tradition where they say, or Rasulullah has a tradition where he says, my ummah will live to the average age of 70 years old. Meaning that 70 is your average lifespan. Which means when the tradition says that for he who speaks about worldly issues when Quran is being recited, or when Adhan is being recited, it means that he hasn't even understood the value of Adhan or Quran. So it's as if his entire 70 years of life were worthless in itself. That's what it means. You see, you have those traditions. He who ponders for an hour, it is the equivalent of 70 years worth of abadah. Well, Alhamdulillah, brilliant. I get 70 years worth of abadah. But does it really mean that? No, it means something deeper. It means that the person who ponders for one hour, the veils will be lifted. He will have understood something deeper in regards to whatever he was pondering. And therefore, it's as if his whole life has become changed by that one hour worth of pondering. You see, numbers are representative. Similar, 40. When we say 40, we do an amal for 40 days, don't we? We say, I'm going to do this, for 40 days in the hope that such and such a thing will come. Why 40? It's because it's specific to something. It's about a change in yourself. Similarly, 10. The number 10 is in regards to completion. 10, the number 10 in Islam is in regards to completion of something. Therefore, when Allah SWT takes an oath by these 10 nights, and these 10 nights are in regards to muharram, to the 10th night of muharram, He is asking us to complete that reformation of ourselves within that period of 10 nights. The reason as to why Aba Abdullah has made this entire movement as per his own statement when he leaves. He says, I am not leaving except that I want to create Islah in Ummah Jad-e-Muhammad, in Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he's asking that within these 10 nights that there is a progress within ourselves. And then you come to the last, we only have time for one more level of depth unfortunately, as we come to one more level of depth of these oaths. As it comes to Fajr, so the first was the Fajr, the dawn of the movement of the revolution of Aba Abdullah. The second is taking it to the point where these are the numerical values and these are the 14 personalities of Ahlul Bayt. Then it comes to the dawn. The dawn meaning a new start. I take an oath by dawn, the Fajr by a new start. Here we find that these 10, I take an oath by these 10 nights, don't mean nights. Again they are representative of something. You know what some of the scholars suggest? That these 10 nights are 10 periods or centuries in Islam. Now think about this. Dawn is dawn of Islam. You know when Rasulullah was sitting in Ghadahira and the young commander of the faithful was sitting with him as well. We have those famous traditions where the commander of the faithful says that I used to follow Rasulullah like a baby camel, follows its mother camel. So I remember when he would be sitting and he would witness things that no other human being has ever witnessed. He was the only human being to sit that close with Rasulullah during that earliest period in Islam's dawn. One tradition says that when Quran was revealed soon after that period of revelation, that moment of revelation, there was a shriek, a cry, a deafening, harsh, horrible cry that took place. A young middleman when he turns to Rasulullah in Ghadahira and says to him, Ya Rasulullah, what was that shriek that I just heard? He says that shriek was the cry from Iblis himself. Out of fear that now that the dawn of Islam has taken place and Quran has been revealed that he will not have the same grasp of the human beings that he had before. Now that with us Islam has come, he will not have control of the human beings like he had before. So the dawn, Wal Fajr, is the dawn of Islam. Therefore, Wale'aleen A'shar, wa shafa'i wal watar, isn't ten nights an odd and even. It is ten centuries an odd number of, an even number of centuries and an odd number of centuries. At the end, the night will depart. If the dawn is the dawn of Islam, the night represents jahliyah. It represents ignorance. It represents darkness within the hearts. It represents the darkness that is over us as a human existence at the moment. I swear by the dawn of Muhammad's coming and I swear by these ten centuries and I swear by a number of centuries that will come after that and at the end of that will come the leaving of the darkness. Why? Because I am sending an awaited saviour that will bring about the ending of that darkness. And therefore this is a period in history that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is taking an oath by. But the beauty of these oaths of wa shafa'i wal watar is evidence that none of us have the capability of putting a time when the awaited saviour will come. He may say I will swear by the dawn of Rasulullah and I may swear by ten particular centuries but by shafa'i wal watar by even an odd there is no specific number attached to it. Therefore if I, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and not establishing a set number of numbers until the awaited saviour comes know that this will take place until you the human existence is ready to make the awaited saviour come. And these are the oaths that are taking place within Surat al-Fajr. In here is such a deep oath for the one who will understand it. Where have you seen a statement like this from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How often does he make this capture for us? How often does he make this point for us? I am going to swear by these things which you may think are random but the more you ponder upon these things the more you unpeel and the more you go into the depth the more you will see that there is such a great lesson for you to take place. There is an evidence that this is in regards to the periods of time before the awaited saviour comes. The hadith it says one day Rasulullah calls a gathering and he says I am going to tell you of something that has taken place. We have a companion of ours that has seen a vision or maybe some versions of the traditions might be that he actually went on this journey either way. Rasulullah narrates he says one of the companions says that he was in a boat and he was blown in a very big wind a gustful wind to an island. As he walked to this island he went and he was looking and the people were with him they were looking for something a man came to them by the name of Jassasa. Jassasa means a spy an evil spy a Jassasa in regards to the 12th Imam is the spies who will be working against the movement of the Imam at the end of time. Jassasa comes and says there is someone who wishes to meet with you I am taking you to him so the companions of Rasulullah ask who is this who is it that could be sitting with Jassasa who is a close person to Jassasa an evil spy that wants to meet with us they feared it was Iblis himself Jassasa this spy takes the companions of Rasulullah and takes him into a monastery they enter into this monastery and they see this beast of a man this beast of a man who they themselves say in the Hadith is indescribably horrid to look at and this man, this beast his arms are being tied and bound you will understand the tradition as we explain it his arms are being tied and bound they say to him who are you what kind of a person are you that is looking so ugly that is being bound and tied in such a way the man responds and says I will tell you of myself later first you tell me about what is happening in the areas of Arabia and Damascus what do you mean tell me has this particular lake in Damascus been taken yet what do you mean has this particular village in valley in Damascus been confiscated yet what do you mean he says well if you don't understand these things tell me has a man by the name of Muhammad risen from amongst the Arabs you say yes he has and tell me about his revolution are people following him yes people are following him tell me has he been in battles has he won battles people say yes he has won battles but also lost a battle as well the man who is tied and bound says now you have answered these questions for me I will tell you that I am the dajal the one who will come at the end of time I am bound at this point in time but once these areas in Damascus these areas in Syria once these areas have been confiscated once there is the elapsation of a period of time that's when I will be released ready to bring about every kind of enmity towards mankind I the dajal will travel throughout the earth in a period of 40 days visiting every city except two I will not be allowed into Makkah nor will I be allowed into Medina because there will be angels with swords that stand guard over these two cities I will come and bring about terror during this period now think about that I don't want to go too deep into Damascus or what lands have been confiscated maybe we can ponder upon it but I swear by the dawn and by these ten centuries and by the even number centuries and the odd number of centuries and then the night shall depart the darkness will leave you but in these periods things must take place and things must be moving in a particular direction in order for that dajal to be taken out and then the night will leave when the awaited saviour comes that's when the darkness will leave the ignorance that is situated upon the heart does the awaited saviour not say I will bring about justice and equity just as injustice and oppression is raining at the time hal fi daalika qasamun li di hajar and in these oaths are great things for the people who possess the knowledge for them we can see that these oaths are very very deep and the lesson principally one is that we cannot take these oaths at face of value we must ponder and ponder and ponder upon Quran I ask you humbly when have you come across tafsir from scholars like this when we find that there is such a movement within qalabala it can only be that this is the case that these are such deep verses for you and I to ponder and two that these oaths speak about movements be it the revolution of abaa abdillah in which it speaks or the movement of the awaited saviour in which it speaks it speaks about a movement a change in time is there any human being that provides you and I with a greater example of a change in har ibn yazeed al-ryahi we stated that these ten nights could be for muharram and indeed many many of the scholars say it is specific in regards to muharram imagine you are har and imagine you have met abaa abdillah and his companions and his blessed family members and you have been the one to direct them away from that water that water is in which the animals drink from that other religions and this is not a detraction from them the Jews and the Christians were allowed to drink from that water but yet people who claimed to be Muslim would not allow the grandson of Rasool Allah and the daughter of Zahra to drink from that very same water can you imagine the thirst that must have been overcoming abaa abdillah as he walked out into the battlefield back towards his tents and he would give sermons and he would collect the bodies of his friends and his companions what thirst must have overcome that man on the day of ashura on the day of the tenth of muharram the battle was about to begin well fajr I swear by that dawn maybe it is that dawn of the day of ashura maybe if there are ten nights and shaf and witter are the tenth and the eleventh of muharram and you find on that day as the dawn of the tenth of muharram breaks as the sun begins to rise so high in the Iraqi desert as the sands of Karbala begin to overheat as the children begin to run from one tent to another and cry Al-Atash Al-Atash as they cry out as the eyes of Ali al-Azgar begins to go into its sockets as Muhammed al-Baqir calls out for a little bit of water as Ali Akbar comes back towards his father and says is there anything that you can give to me oh father as that sun rises as that dawn takes place now the battle of ashura takes place the battle of Karbala will begin to rage between these two armies at this point it is said that dialogue begins to take place Hussain ibn Ali stands before the enemies and on a number of occasions he makes this call hal minna sarinyan surana is there anyone to come to our assistance who will come to the aid of the family of the prophet of Islam and then at this point he makes a statement he puts a question to the enemies he says to them I ask you a question have you not heard from Rasool Allah a tradition which says that Hassan ibn Hussain a sayyiday shababi ahlil jannah have you not heard the tradition which says hussain um minni wa anam ibn al-Hussain I ask you if you have not heard these go back to companions like Jabir who is alive today go back to Abu Saeed al-Khudri and ask him go back to Anas ibn Malik and ask him whether they heard Rasool Allah say Hassan ibn Hussain are from the Hassan ibn Hussain a sayyiday shababi ahlil jannah at this point Hour ibn Yazid al-Ghiyahi begins to tremble he begins to look at these words and begins to recognize what he has done he comes back to Umar ibn Sa'ad and says to him O Umar have you consigned yourself to fight the son of the daughter of the messenger of Allah listen to the response from Umar ibn Sa'ad he says by Allah heads will roll and hands will be cut he was not lying because indeed Hussain's hands and Hussain's head would be struck in that very same way at this point Hour begins to tremble even further he says to one of his helpers and one of his assistants he says is there any water that has been given towards the animals they say yes but go and give more water his man says to him I thought that Hour wanted to escape and run away from the battle but I saw her walking towards the camp of Hussain and they called out and said O Hour you are the bravest of men are you going on your own to go and attack Hussain ibn Ali Hour does not answer them he is shaking and shaking he gets towards Hussain ibn Ali and throws himself at the blessed feet of Hussain O Hussain Halim ibn Toba is there any way for me to return back to you Allah indeed I swear by Allah by your very coming to me is my acceptance from you at this point he begins to cry and begins to weep he kisses the blessed feet and the blessed hands of Aba Abdullah he says to him O Aba Abdullah I wish I had not been born I wish I had not made this time I wish I had not been the one that had stopped water coming to you I wish I had not been the one who had made you move your army back away from the water please allow me to go towards the women of Rasulullah and tell them of my apology Aba Abdullah says yes go ahead and go towards the women Hour stands outside the tent of the women and gives a salutation to them peace be upon your women of Rasulullah I ask for your forgiveness because I am the one who has done this I am the one who will cause your sons and your husbands to be killed today I am the one who will cause your children to cry out in thirst is there any way for you to accept my repentance the women come out and they say to him congratulations O Hour you will be with us today you will be with Rasulullah later on today at this point Hour enters into the battlefield and addresses the enemies with such bravery he says to them how dare you come and do this towards the grandson of Rasulullah the enemies pull back arrows and strike them towards Hour Hour runs back towards the tent and awaits to hear the words of Ahlul Bayt at this point now Hour says to him O my master Hussain I was the one who led you towards this situation will you allow me to go out and to fight on your behalf at this point when he makes that call he sees that his sons and his slave comes towards him and his son and his slave attack the enemies as well Hour has granted permission to enter in towards the battlefield he enters into the battlefield and makes some poetry and he says I am Hour I am from the tribe which is known for its hospitality but yet we see that how we have been hospitable towards the grandson of Rasulullah I will strike you down one narration says that he strikes down 42 of the enemies and sends them towards the hellfire at this point they begin to attack him from the left and from the right a narration says that Hour was such a brave warrior that they could not bring him down that they actually had to strike arrows into his horse his horse is struck with an arrow and flings the body of Hour into the air Hour falls towards the floor but stands up and continues to fight bravely they attack Hour from all sides and eventually strike him down one narration says that Hour went out with Zuhair ibn Qayyim and that when they were working they would work alongside each other and that they would be split up but they would fight to help each other as Hour was being attacked he was surrounded by the enemies they struck him to the left and to the right eventually Hour falls towards the floor and he calls out towards his master salutations be upon you abaa abdillah come towards my aid the narration says that the companions of Ahlul Bayt rush out and bring the broken body of Hour back Hour is still alive at this point and he is able to perform his final zealat abaa abdillah abaa abdillah comes and sits behind him he begins to stroke his head and says to him indeed you were named Hour the free one and you are free just as your mother narrated and named you towards Rasulullah for he will quench your thirst upon this day at this point the head of Hour is bleeding profusely Hussain ibn Ali takes a handkerchief and places this upon the head of Hour and he passes away from this world inna lillahu inna ilayhi raja'u'um Zuhair ibn Qayn is still fighting within the battlefield he is now fighting like a warrior and dispatches more than 120 of the enemies towards the Hellfire one narration says that two men come from either side and they come with spears and both of them at the same time spear Zuhair ibn Qayn into his side he too falls towards the floor Zuhair was the one who said that if we could be struck down 70 times and risen that we would still be risen for you abaa abdillah he died on the 10th of Muharram ala la'natullah alil qawmi al-zalameen wasayalamu al-lathina dhalumu ayyumun qalabiyan qalibun inna lillahu inna ilayhi raja'u'um o Allah we ask you to understand sort of fudger better we ask you ya Allah to perform the ziyarat of Zuhair ibn Qayn in Hour ibn Yazid al-Riyahi in all the martyrs of Karbala and companions