Quran Universe
37:138

وَبِٱلَّيۡلِۚ أَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُونَ

Wabiallayli afala taAAqiloona

And at night. Then will you not use reason?

Word by word
  1. وَبِٱلَّيۡلِۚAnd at night
  2. أَفَلَاThen will not
  3. تَعۡقِلُونَyou use reason
As-Saffat · 37:138Makkah

And at night. Will you not think?

Morning and evening, the same unread lesson

How often they passed
morning
night
and still
no reflectionno change
The question
seeingthe eyes pass over it
thinkinglearning that a like end awaits

Ibn Kathir explains the question: will you not learn a lesson from them and realize that a similar end awaits those who deny? They saw the place day and night. They never connected it to themselves.

You scroll past news of a sudden death at breakfast and again before bed. You say how sad, and keep scrolling. The verse asks you to stop and think. What does this mean for how I live tomorrow?

I know life is short. I hear about death all the time.

Hearing about it is not the same as letting it change how I live.

Try this

Tonight, before sleep, ask yourself one question: if today were my last, what would I wish I had done?

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 37:133)

And verily, Lut was one of the Messengers (133)When We saved him and his family, all (134)Except an old woman (his wife) who was among those who remained behind (135)Then We destroyed the rest (136)Verily, you pass by them in the morning (137)And at night; will you not then reflect (138)

The Destruction of the People of Lut (Lot)

Allah tells us that He sent His servant and Messenger Lut, peace be upon him, to his people, and they denied him, so Allah saved him from among them, him and his family with the exception of his wife, who was destroyed along with her people. Allah destroyed them with different kinds of punishments, and made their vicinity a foul, stinking lake which is on a well-travelled route where people pass by night and day (i.e., the Dead Sea, which lays close to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the highway between Arabia and Syria). Allah says:

وَإِنَّكُمْ لَتَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مُصْبِحِينَ - وَبِاللَّيْلِ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

(Verily, you pass by them in the morning. And at night; will you not then reflect?) meaning, 'will you not learn a lesson from them and how Allah destroyed them, and realize that a similar end awaits the disbelievers.'