Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Commentary

لَآ اُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيٰمَةِ وَلَآ اُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ (I swear by the Day of Resurrection, [ 1] and I swear by the self-reproaching conscience, (that Resurrection is a reality.)...75:1-2). The negative particle la 'nay' prefixed to the oath in this context has no meaning. When the object of oath is to refute the false thought of an opponent, this redundant negative particle is used before oath. This usage is commonplace in Arabic idiom. Such usage is sometimes employed in our language [ in Urdu ] as well [ as an answer to some objection or in repudiation of what is said before or ] to emphasize an important subject. This Surah refutes and rebuts doubts about the possibility of the Resurrection by the rejecters. The Surah first swears an oath by the Resurrection, and then by the self-reproaching conscience. The complement or subject of oath is contextually understood - the Day of Resurrection is a reality and it shall come to pass. The object of oath in verse [ 1] is to affirm and emphasize the importance of the subject about which an oath is taken. In this instance, it is the Resurrection. In verse [ 2], the object of oath is to lay emphasis on the importance of self-reproaching conscience and its acceptability in the sight of Allah. The word nafs means 'soul' or 'life' and the word lawwamah is derived from lawm signifying 'reproach or upbraid'. The phrase refers to the human conscience that upbraids him for doing bad deeds. It upbraids him not only for doing bad deeds, but also for doing good deeds - 'why did you not do more good, and attain higher stages [ of development ]?' In short, a perfect believer reproaches and upbraids himself all the time whether doing good or bad. His reproaching himself for bad deeds is quite understandable, but why should he reproach, blame or criticize himself for good deeds? He should try to reach for higher goals in life by doing better deeds. He upbraids himself for missing out on that score. This interpretation is reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and other leading authorities on Tafsir [ Ibn Kathir and others ].