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The structure of Sūrah al-ʿAṣr (Q. 100) has often struck me as lopsided because of the lengthy third verse, which even seems to undermine what precedes it. There's interesting evidence that suggest that it was truncated and emended ... 
First the textus receptus:
[1] By the declining day,
[2] humanity is in loss
[3] except for those who believe, do good works, and urge one another to pursue truth and to endure.
[1] By the declining day,
[2] humanity is in loss
[3] except for those who believe, do good works, and urge one another to pursue truth and to endure.
[1] wa-l-ʿaṣr
[2] inna ’l-ʾinsāna la-fī ḫusr
[3] ʾillā ’llaḏīna ʾāmanū wa-ʿamilū ’l-ṣāliḥāti wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-ṣabr
[2] inna ’l-ʾinsāna la-fī ḫusr
[3] ʾillā ’llaḏīna ʾāmanū wa-ʿamilū ’l-ṣāliḥāti wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-ṣabr
In his *Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān*, Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām (d. 838) records a version of the surah attr. to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, which I thinks work better.
[1] wa-l-ʿaṣr
[2] wa-l-nawāʾibi ’l-dahr
[3] laqad ḫalaqnā ’l-insāna bi-ḫusr
[4] wa-innahu fīhi ʾilā ʾāḫir al-dahr
[1] wa-l-ʿaṣr
[2] wa-l-nawāʾibi ’l-dahr
[3] laqad ḫalaqnā ’l-insāna bi-ḫusr
[4] wa-innahu fīhi ʾilā ʾāḫir al-dahr
Although it *is* a little more somber in meaning:
[1] By the declining day
[2] and the hardships of time.
[3] We created man in loss
[4] and there he will be until the end of time
[1] By the declining day
[2] and the hardships of time.
[3] We created man in loss
[4] and there he will be until the end of time
Ibn Masʿūd’s codex allegedly contained a similar reading of the sūrah, but he retained the final verse. (Text below from the Kitāb al-Maṣāḥif of Ibn Abī Dāwūd al-Sijistānī, d. 928)
Edit: Q. *103!
Nb: this picture is from the Moroccan edition (which reads لخسر ), but I my transliteration is from Anton Spitaler's edition (which reads بخسر)
