وَالْعَصْرِ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
By time; humankind is surely in loss. (العصر: 1–2)
Al-ʿAṣr is very short, yet its assertion, oath, exception, and conditions have broad consequences. Ījāz al-qaṣr names density of meaning in economical wording; it should not be explained by inventing a particular omitted verb wherever the text is concise.
The distinction matters: in ellipsis, contextual evidence allows a missing element to be reconstructed; in concentrated concision, the existing expression itself carries an extensive meaning. The compact structure of this surah primarily illustrates the second principle.