It is worthy of note that the last Verse clearly reflects...

It is worthy of note that the last Verse clearly reflects that the Noble Prophet (S) was not alone in "standing at night", but a group of the believers accompanied him in such spiritual growth and had recognized him as their model in this respect. Some Qur’an exegetes maintain that "Stand [in prayer] all night, except a little" bids the Noble Prophet to stand in prayer all nights except for some of them.

According to this view, there is no exception in terms of the nightly spans of time, rather some nights is hereby intended. Nonetheless, such interpretation is not seemingly accurate taking into account the single nominal form "night" (layl) and the clause "half or less than that." Different exegetes suggest different interpretations for "weighty Word" as they address different aspects of the question.

However, the weight of the Word seemingly implies that the Holy Qur’an, from different aspects, is herein intended. The Holy Qur’anic Verses are weighty in terms of contents, meaning, and their impacts on the believers’ hearts.

The same theme is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an ^3 : "Had We sent down this Qur’an on mountains, you would have seen them humbling themselves and rent asunder." Such "weight" connotes the warnings, promises, obligations, hardships resulting from the propagation of the Prophetic call. The "weight" alludes to the weight in the scales of deeds and their accounts on the Day of Resurrection and finally the burden of complete implementation of such plans.

Inasmuch as the recitation of the Holy Qur’anic Verses is convenient and delightful, though acting upon their contents is hard, particularly on the threshold of the Prophetic call, when his milieu was imbued with the dark clouds of ignorance, idolatry, and superstitions.

It was at that time that his obdurate and merciless foes were hand in hand against him and his companions, though they sought assistance from Qur’anic teachings, establishment of nightly prayers, and seeking closeness to the Pure Essence of the Lord and thereby succeeded in overcoming all hardships and carrying such heavy burden.

According to the exegetic work, Atyab al-Bayan, the "weighty word" implies the proclamation of the Noble Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s (as) caliphate and imamate, obliging him to confront so many obdurate foes. Accordingly, the Holy Qur’an is not herein intended, since it is said "Recite the Qur’an so that you may receive the weighty word in future.