[Quran 3:16 – TMQ – Farrooq Malik] [TMQ stands for Translation of The Meanings of ALLAH’S Quran]
[Quran 3:17 – TMQ – Vickar Ahamed]
[The righteous people are those who pray: “Our Lord! We sincerely believe in You: please forgive our sins and save us from the agony of the hellfire;” Those who show patience, firmness, and self-control; Who are true (in word and deed); Who pray with sincerity (and obedience); Who spend (in the way of Allah): And who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.]

[Tafsir – Ibn Kathir] Allah describes the Muttaqin, His pious servants, whom He promised tremendous rewards, (Those who say: “Our Lord! We have indeed believed”) in You, Your Book, and Your Messenger. (so forgive us our sins) because of our faith in You and in what You legislated for us. Therefore, forgive us our errors and shortcomings, with Your bounty and mercy, (and save us from the punishment of the Fire.)

Allah then said, (They are) those who are patient) while performing acts of obedience and abandoning the prohibitions. (those who are true) concerning their proclamation of faith, by performing difficult deeds. (and obedient) meaning, they submit and obey Allah, (those who spend) from their wealth on all the acts of obedience they were commanded, being kind to kith and kin, helping the needy, and comforting the destitute. (and those who pray and beg Allah’s pardon in the last hours of the night) and this testifies to the virtue of seeking Allah’s forgiveness in the latter part of the night. It was reported that when Ya`qub said to his children, (I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) )12:98( he waited until the latter part of the night to say his supplication.

Furthermore, the Two Sahihs, the Musnad and Sunan collections recorded through several Companions that the Messenger of Allah said, (Every night, when the last third of it remains, our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, descends to the lowest heaven saying, “Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to his invocation Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him”)

The Two Sahihs recorded that  A’ishah said, “The Messenger of Allah performed Witr during the first part, the middle and latter parts of the night. Then, later (in his life), he would perform it (only) during the latter part.” Abdullah bin Umar used to pray during the night and would ask, “O Nafi’! Is it the latter part of the night yet” and if Nafi said, “Yes,” Ibn Umar would start supplicating to Allah and seeking His forgiveness until dawn. This Hadith was collected by Ibn Abi Hatim.

[Tafsir – Yusuf Ali] Sabr (Sabirin) includes many shades of meaning: I have specified three here, viz., patience, firmness, and self-control. See 2:45 and 2:153 and notes thereon. True servants of God are described in 3:16 and 17. They have faith, humility, and hope (3:16); and they have certain virtues (3:17) viz., (1) patience, steadfastness, self-restraint, and all that goes under the full definition of Sabr: this shows a certain attitude of mind; (2) in all their dealings they are true and sincere as they are also in their promises and words; this marks them out in social conduct; (3) further, their spiritual worship is earnest and deep, an inner counterpart of their outward conduct; (4) their worship of God shows itself in their love of their fellow-men, for they are ready and liberal in charity; and (5) their self-discipline is so great that the first thing they do every morning is humble to approach their God.

[Tafsir – Asad] The expression bi’l-ashar is usually taken to mean “at the times before daybreak”, or simply “before daybreak”. This is in agreement with the Prophet’s recommendation to his followers (forthcoming from several authentic Traditions) to devote the latter part of the night, and particularly the time shortly before dawn, to intensive prayer. But while the word sahar (also spelled sahr and suhr), of which ashar is the plural, undoubtedly denotes “the time before daybreak”, it also signifies – in the spellings sahar and suhr – “the core of the heart”, “the inner part of the heart”, or simply “heart” (cf. Lisan al-‘Arab; also Lane IV, 1316). It seems to me that in the context of the above Qur’an-verse – as well as of 51:18 – this latter rendering is preferable to the conventional one: for, although the value of praying before daybreak has undoubtedly been stressed by the Prophet, it is not very plausible that the Qur’an should have tied the prayer for forgiveness to a particular time of day.

by Arshad Chaudhry