Surat al Asr starts off with BismillahirRahmanir Rahimبِسْمِاللَّـهِالرَّحْمَـٰنِالرَّحِيمِ Wal‘Asr- وَالْعَصْرِ which means I swear by time. The word ‘asr’ means to squeeze. But it also has been used for afternoon as a meaning. Like salat al asr, the afternoon prayer. Why? Because all our work and duties are squeezed into this time. But in the meaning of this ayah it means a short time that comes to an end. The next ayah says Innal insaana lafii khusr -إِنَّالْإِنسَانَلَفِيخُسْرٍ which means Indeed mankind is in a loss. People have indeed lost, hours, days, months and years of life and don’t get any reward. Then they become in loss because there is always more to achieve How much time have you lost and wasted? How many hours have you wasted playing too much video games? How many hours have you wasted over sleeping? The 10th imam said ‘The world is a market wherein some people gain and some others lose’. So how do we gain something from this market or this world and not be in loss? The next verse explains. Illal ladhina aamanu wa ‘amilus saalihaatإِلَّاالَّذِينَآمَنُواوَعَمِلُواالصَّالِحَاتِ ,expect those who have believed and done good deeds, Wata waasaw bilhaqqi wata waasaw bissabrوَتَوَاصَوْابِالْحَقِّوَتَوَاصَوْابِالصَّبْرِ , and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience. So in other words, for you not to be in loss you must have faith in Allah, and having faith must come along with doing all good deeds. But having faith and good deeds won’t work in a society unless you advise each other to truth and patience. So telling the truth and being patient also means you must enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong. Tell your brother or sister that salah is good for you, so you should pray. You can tell your friend that haram music is forbidden, you should not listen to it as its bad for you. And have patience against committing sins, patience to do good deeds and patience in hardships in life. So this surah is teaching us that Allah is swearing an oath by time, a time that is short, a time that will end, that mankind is in loss, expect those who hold onto the four principles. What are they? Having Faith in Allah, doing good deeds, reminding others of the truth and reminding others of patience