91- Surat Alshams

15 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)

A'auzu Bellahi mena ash-shytani ar-rajim

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan

Bismi Ellahi Ar-rhmani Ar-rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Wa alshamsi wa duhaha (1).

By the sun and its brightness.

Wa alqamari iza talaha (2).

And by the moon when it follows it.

Wa alnahari iza jal-laha (3).

And by the day when it reveals it.

Wa allayili iza yaghshaha (4).

And by the night when it covers it.

Wa alsama'e wama banaha (5).

And by the heaven and He who built it.

Wa alardi wama tahaha (6).

And by the earth and He who extended it.

Wa nafsin wama sawwaha (7).

And by the soul and He who made it.

Fa alhamaha fujuoraha wa taqwaha (8).

Then inspired it its immorality and its piousness.

Qad aflaha man zakkaha (9).

And indeed he who purifies it has succeeded.

Wa qad khaba man dassaha (10).

And indeed he who misleads it has failed.

Kazzabat thamuduo be-taghwaha (11).

Thamud has denied because of their transgression.

Izi enba'tha ashqaha (12).

Where the most wretched of them rose up.

Fa qala lahum rasuluo Allahi naqata Allahi wa suqyaha (13).

Then, the Messenger of Allah said to them it is the she-camel of Allah, and its her watering.

Fa kazzabuhuo fa aqaruoha  fa damdama alayhim rabbuhum be-zanbehim fa sawwaha (14).

But they denied Him and killed her, then their Lord destroyed them for their sin, and then leveled it.

Wa la yakhafuo auqbaha (15).

And He does not fear its consequence.

Simplified interpretation:

 Surat Alshams begins with seven oaths, where Allah swears with things that indicates the greatness of what He has made in the whole universe, and these oaths followed by a basic rule for human endeavor in the worldly life, then Allah tells us in the last five verses the story of Thamud people as an example for their misguided endeavors. Surat Alshams is one of the four Surahs that Our prophet commanded Mu'az Bin Gabal to recite them, when he led His companions in the prayer (Imam) in order not to prolong the prayer. 

 

 Allah swears in the first four verses by the sun and its brightness, and by the moon when it follows the sun, and by the day when it reveals the sun, and by the night when it covers the sun as if He swears with the succession of the day and the night, without which, man would not be able to live on the earth planet. These four verses are equivalent to Aya (33) of Surat Ibrahim where Allah says: "And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, moving constantly, and subjected for you the night and the day".

 Then Allah swears by His creation of the heaven and the earth and what was created in them in the next two verses (4,5), where the heaven and the earth are two signs of the greatness of Allah's creation, and He commanded us to give thought to them for He says in Surat Aliemran Aya (190): "Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for those of sound mind", and Allah describes those of understanding in the next verse (191) by saying: "and ponder on the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying Our Lord, You did not created this in vain".

 

 Allah has made theses creatures to serve man, and Allah swears by man's soul in the seventh verse, this soul speaks of Allah's power, and greatness, and refers to His splendid work, and Allah says that the soul carries signs for those who believe, where He says in Surat Alzariat Aya (21): "And in yourselves, then will you not see?".  

 Then Allah inspired it its immorality and its piousness (Aya 8), where Allah explains for every soul what she should do of good and obedience and what she should leave out of evil and disobedience, so Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in narration of Aby Tha'labah Bin Nasher: "Allah, Almighty, has enjoined obligatory duties, so do not leave them, and He has set limits, so do not transgress them, and He has prohibited things, so do not violate them, and He has kept silent about things as a mercy to you without forgetting, so do not search (ask) for them".

 So after Allah has swore by His creatures and by the soul, which He made clear to her the path of guidance and the path of misguidance, He shows us the result of choosing the path that man will take. Where He says in the ninth and tenth verses "And indeed he who purifies it has succeeded, and indeed he who misleads it has failed", that is, whoever purifies himself by obedience Allah, will succeed, and will be among the people of paradise, and  whoever misleads himself by disobedience Allah, will failed, and will be among the people of hellfire.

 Then Allah cites in the last five verses the story of Thamud as an example for the misguided path for man, Where Thamud denied the messengers, and when Allah sent to them the Prophet Saleh, they denied and said to Him You are only of those affected by magic, and they asked Him to bring a sign if He should be of the truthful, and He said to them: O my people, worship Allah, you have no deity other than Him, there has come a clear evidence from your Lord, this is the she-camel of Allah sent to you as a sign, so leave it to eat within Allah's land, and do not touch it with harm, lest there seize you a painful punishment, He also said to them that for the she-camel is a time of drink and for them is a time of drink, each in a known day (Surat Alshu'ra' Ayat 141-158, Surat Ala'raf Aya 73).

 But what happened is that the most wretched of them rose up to kill Allah's she-camel, even though their Prophet told them not to harm it, and He said to them it is the she-camel of Allah, and its her watering. When our Prophet delivered a sermon and mentioned the she-camel and the one who killed it, He recited Aya (12), then He described him in narration of Abdullah Bin Zama'h and said: "A tough man whose equal was rare and who enjoyed the protection of his people, like Abi Zama'h went forth to kill it".

 So they agreed with the wretched one to kill the she-camel, and then Allah sent down His punishment upon them all, where He destroyed them with the same punishment as a recompense for their sin which is denying their Messenger, and killing the she-camel, so He leveled their town to the ground, and they all deserved the painful punishment which their prophet warned them against. Then Allah says in the last verse: "And He does not fear its consequence", and most commentators said that "Allah is not afraid of the consequences of what He did to them".

 

No one Knows its interpretation except Allah