91- Surat Alshams/Tafseer
15 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
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 jallaha (3).
And by the day when it displays it.
Wa al-laili iza yaghshaha (4).
And by the night when it covers it.
Wa alsamai wa-ma banaha (5).
And by the sky and He who built it.
Wa alardi wa-ma tahaha (6).
And by the earth and He who spread it.
Wa nafsin wa-ma sawwaha (7).
And by the soul and He who proportioned it.
Fa-alhamaha fujuraha wa taqwaha (8).
Then inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.
Qad aflaha man zakkaha (9).
Indeed, he has succeeded who purifies it.
Wa qad khaba man dassaha (10).
And indeed, he has failed who misleads it.
Kazzabat thamudu be-taghwaha (11).
Thamud denied because of their transgression.
Izi enba-atha ashqaha (12).
When the most wretched of them rose up.
Fa-qala lahum rasulu Allahi naqata Allahi wa suqyaha (13).
And the Messenger of Allah said to them Be careful of the she-camel of Allah, and her drink.
Fa-kazzabuhu fa-aqaruha fa-damdama alayhim rabbuhum be-zanbehim fa-sawwaha (14).
But they denied Him and slaughtered her, so their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin, and made it equal.
Wa-la yakhafu auqbaha (15).
And He does not fear its consequence.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Alshams begins with seven oaths, as Allah swears with things that indicate 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 cites in the last five verses the story of the people of Thamud as an example for their misguided endeavors. Surat Alshams is one of the four Surahs that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) commanded Mu'adh bin Jabal to recite when he leads people in the prayer (Imam) in order not to prolong the prayer, as Jabir bin Abdullah reported: "Mu'adh bin Jabal Al-Ansari led his companions in Ishaa prayer (Evening prayer) and prolonged it for them. A person separated himself from us and prayed alone, Mu'adh was informed of this, and he remarked that he was a hypocrite, when his saying was conveyed to the man, he went to Allah's Messenger (PBUH) and informed Him of what Mu'adh had said, upon this Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said to him Do you want to be a person putting people to trial?, when you lead people in prayer Recite {Wa alshamsi wa duhaha: By the sun and its brightness, the current Surah}, {Sabehi esma Rabbika al-a'la: Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High, Surat Al-A'la}, {Eqra'a besmi Rabbika allazi khalaq: Read in the Name of Your Lord who created, Surat Al-Alaq}, and {Wa al-laili iza yaghsha: By the night when it covers, Surat Al-Lail}" (Sahih Muslim 465 b).
Allah Almighty says in the first four verses (1-4) "By the sun and its brightness, and by the moon when it follows it, and by the day when it displays it, and by the night when it covers it", that is, Allah swears 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 similar to Aya (33) of Surat Ibrahim as Allah says {And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, continuous and subjected for you the night and the day}.
Allah Almighty says in the next two verses (5,6) "And by the sky and He who built it, and by the earth and He who spread it", that is, Allah swears by the creation of the Heaven and the earth and what is in both of them, as the heaven and the earth are two signs of the greatness of Allah's creation, and He commanded His servants to ponder on them for He says in Ayat (190,191) of Surat Ali Imran {Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, there are signs for those of understanding, those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, or on their sides, and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, our Lord, You did not create this in vain, Glory to be You, so Save us from the punishment of the Fire}.
Allah Almighty says in the next verse (7) "And by the soul and He who proportioned it", that is, Allah has subjected His creation to serve man, and Allah swears by man's soul, as this soul speaks of Allah's power, and greatness, and refers to His splendid work, and Allah assures that the soul carries signs for those who believe in Aya (21) of Surat Aldhariyat {And in yourselves, then Do you not see?}.
Allah Almighty says in the next three verses (8-10) "Then inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness, indeed, he has succeeded who purifies it, and indeed, he has failed who misleads it", that is, Allah inspired the soul of man with its wickedness and its piousness, as Allah explains for every soul what it should do of good and obedience and what it should abandon of evil and disobedience. So Allah has made clear to man the path of guidance and the path of misguidance, and then He shows the result of choosing the path or guidance or the path of misguidance, so 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.
Allah Almighty says in the next three verses (11-15) "Thamud denied because of their transgression, when the most wretched of them rose up, and the Messenger of Allah said to them Be careful of the she-camel of Allah, and her drink, but they denied Him and slaughtered her, so their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin, and made it equal, and He does not fear its consequence.", that is, Allah cites the story of Thamud, the people of the Prophet Salih, as an example for the misguided path of man in the worldly life, 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 them 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'araa 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 commanded them not to harm it, and He said to them Be careful of the she-camel of Allah, and its drink, and it was said that his name was Qadar bin Salif, so he slaughtered her. And as narrated by Abdullah bin Zam'ah that he heard the Prophet (PBUH) delivering a sermon and He mentioned the she-camel and the one who slaughtered her, the Messenger of Allah recited {When the most wretched of them rose up}, then He said A tough man whose equal was rare and who enjoyed the protection of his people, like Abi Zam'ah, went forth to slaughter her" (Sahih Albukhari 4942).
So they agreed with the wretched one to slaughter the she-camel, and when they slaughtered her, Allah sent down His punishment upon them all, where He destroyed them with the same punishment as a recompense for their sin when they denied their Messenger, and slaughtered the she-camel, so Allah leveled their town to the ground, and they all deserved the painful punishment which their Prophet warned them against. Then Allah assures that He does not fear consequence of their destruction, and most commentators said that this means that Allah is not afraid of the consequences of what He did to them.