Concerning Allah's statement,

﴿وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ﴾

(And by the night when it departs.) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "When it goes away.'' `Abdullah bin Zubayr said,

﴿وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ﴾

(And by the night when it departs.) "As some parts of it remove other parts of it.'' Mujahid, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Qatadah, and Malik who reported it from Zayd bin Aslam and Ibn Zayd, they all said;

﴿وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ﴾

(And by the night when it departs.) "When it moves along.'' Concerning Allah's statement,

﴿هَلْ فِى ذَلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِّذِى حِجْرٍ ﴾

(There is indeed in them sufficient proofs for men with Hijr!) meaning, for he who possesses intellect, sound reasoning, understanding and religious discernment. The intellect has only been called Hijr because it prevents the person from doing that which is not befitting of him of actions and statement. From this we see the meaning of Hijr Al-Bayt because it prevents the person performing Tawaf from clinging the wall facing Ash-Sham. Also the term Hijr Al-Yamamah (the cage of the pigeon) is derived from this meaning (i.e., prevention). It is said, "Hajara Al-Hakim so-and-so (The judge passed a judgement preventing so-and-so),'' when his judgement prevents the person from his liberty (i.e., of freely utilizing his wealth). Allah says,

﴿وَيَقُولُونَ حِجْراً مَّحْجُوراً﴾

(And they will say: "Hijr Mahjur.'') (25:22) All of these examples are different cases but their meanings are quite similar. The oath that is referred to here is about the times of worship and the acts of worship themselves, such as Hajj, Salah and other acts of worship that Allah's pious, obedient, servants who fear Him and are humble before Him, seeking His Noble Face, perform in order to draw nearer to Him.