"It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting" until His saying: "and seek that which Allah has ordained for you." Qatada said: Al-rafath is sexual intercourse. "They are clothing for you," meaning: a source of tranquility for you. "Allah knew that you used to deceive yourselves," Qatada said: When fasting was first enjoined upon the Muslims, if they slept, it was not permissible for them to have intimacy with their wives, nor food, nor drink after their sleep. Some people would indulge in that after sleeping, and that was the people's betrayal of their own souls. So He turned to them after that and permitted that until the break of dawn, and He said: "So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has ordained for you." The interpretation of Mujahid: Meaning the child, which a man seeks. If he is among those for whom Allah has ordained a child, He provides it to him.

Muhammad said: This is a command of recommendation, not an obligation. "And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [meaning: the blackness of the night, and this becomes distinct from that]."

Yahya said: There are two types of dawn. As for the one that is like the tail of a wolf (fa's-sarhan), it does not make anything permissible nor does it prohibit anything. As for the spreading dawn that extends across the horizon, it makes prayer permissible.