Surah Al-Asr: Four Ways for Staying Away from State of Loss
Al-Asr is the 103rd chapter of the Quran that has three verses and is in the 30th Juz.
It is Makki and the 13th Surah revealed to the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
The name of the chapter comes from the word Asr (time, time of the afternoon, era) by which God swears in the first verse.
Surah Al-Asr stressed that human beings are in loss, “except those who believe and do good works and charge one another with the truth and charge one another with patience.”
The word Khusr (loss), which is emphasized in this Surah, has been used 60 times in the Quran. One can suffer losses in material aspects and also in spiritual spheres, where it means going astray. By Khusr, the Quran mostly refers to the spiritual aspect of loss.
According to Allameh Tabatabaei, the life in this world is the capital that everyone has and that they should use this capital to prepare life in the hereafter. If their beliefs and conducts are based on the truth, they’re engaged in a profitable trade but if they follow falsehood and stay away from good deeds and faith in God, their trade would be full of losses and they end up deprived of the blessings of the hereafter.
At the beginning of the Surah, God swears by Asr. Quran interpreters say Asr refers to the history of humanity and also everyone’s lifetime. Based on the following verses, it can be said that people are in loss as their lifetime passes (and they fail to use it to prepare for the hereafter).
Those who pay attention to four principles can stay away from a life of losses. They are “those who believe and do good works and charge one another with the truth and charge one another with patience.” (Verse 3)
Based on this verse, the way out of losses is believing in God, doing good deeds, urging others to defend and act upon the truth, and urging others to have patience.
