Surah Ash-Shams - The Sun
(Revealed at Mecca)
15 Verses in 1 Section
Sections of Surah Ash-Shams
-
Purifying the soul.
Ash-Shams – Purifying The Soul
The one who purifies his soul, succeeds and the one who corrupts it, fails, The fate of the people of Thamood, recapitulated.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
“In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful”
وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا
“By the sun and his radiation!” (91:1)
وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا
“By the moon when she followeth after it!” (91:2)
وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا
“By the Day when it unfoldeth its1light!” (91:3)
وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا
“By the Night when it enshroudeth it!” (91:4)
وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا
“By the heaven as it is built!” (91:5)
وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا
“By the earth as it is expanded forth!” (91:6)
وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا
“By the soul as it is perfected2!” (91:7)
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
“And inspired unto it (against) its vices and (about) its piety3!” (91:8)
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا
“Indeed, succeedeth he who purifieth4it!” (91:9)
وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا
“And indeed, faileth he who polluted it!” (91:10)
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَاهَا
“Belied (the truth the Tribe), Thamood, due to their rebellious impiety!” (91:11)
إِذِ انْبَعَثَ أَشْقَاهَا
“When rose up the worst wretch among them (with mischief)5!” (91:12)
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ نَاقَةَ اللَّهِ وَسُقْيَاهَا
“Then said unto them (Saleh) the Apostle of God: ‘‘It is the She Camel of God, (leave her) and its drink!” (91:13)
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ بِذَنْبِهِمْ فَسَوَّاهَا
“But they belied him6and hamstrung her, so crushed them their Lord for their sins, and levelled them (all with the ground)” (91:14)
وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَاهَا
“And He feareth not (any one against) the consequences (they met)” (91:15)
Commentary
Verse 1
In the verses 1-7 the solemn appeal is made to the reflective faculty mankind has been endowed with. Each one of the objects in whose name the swearing is done, if studied intelligently is one of the manifestations of God’s might and wisdom which none else besides Him could ever be imagined to effect.
The sun even to this day with the boasting of the human intellect about the progress it has made, is a mystery. None could ever even presume definitely what the matter is that burns so continuously for all the unknown millions of years of its age. The sun with its natural properties and the influence it has over the other heavenly bodies and the blessing it is, to the earth, is nothing but a mystery which has proved itself insolvable for man.
Some commentators interpret saying the mystic aspect of the mention of the sun in this verse and the moon in the next, is that the sun stands for the Holy Prophet and the moon for Ali, who, succeeded him as the First Holy Imam spreading the light of the truth as it emanated from the Holy Prophet. (MS.)
Verse 2
The moon following the sun, and its native reflective property, its acting as the substitute of the sun in illuminating the world as the sun’s vicegerent - the contrast in its effect of the coolness, in its light quite different from the heat producing light of the sun, though the light reflected by the moon is nothing else other than the light of the sun, and what makes the same light of the sun to become the opposite in effect and nature, to its original properties it possesses before the reflection, is another mystery left till now for the scientist to only speculate and imagine and to go on revising their own theories, one after another.
‘Tala’ meaning - following of a thing as a consequence of another one as antecedent, i.e., the former is next to the latter deriving its strength from it. In this sense it has been used7. (A.P.)
Verse 3
The day - its duration with fully regulated working of the phenomenon of the dawn and the dusk - the revealing aspect of the sun’s glory and effect on earth and all the earthly beings and their activities in it - its end and its fully regulated repetition of the renewals and its closure, is a mystery to any intelligently active mind. It is a proof positive to tell man that as the day is renewed and the sleeping world is once again resurrected, the Lord will one day effect the Final Death and the Final Resurrection for the Final Judgment.
Verse 4
The disappearance of the sun concealing the light, making man and animal to rest, restore once again the quietude to make man thoughtful that as the day has disappeared and the world ceases to be active, there is one day for the world to sleep in its getting extinct at the will of its Almighty Author. The inimitable beauty that the skies manifest in their glorious exhibition of the heavenly bodies, each one of whom is a wonder by itself. The changing phases, the appearance of the starry show in the skies and the gradual increase of the darkness and the cool atmosphere and the return to the dawn - all in a fully regulated cycle, almighty system, even to this day is nothing but a wonder to the human intellect.
Verse 5
The firmament above the skies with the rain-giving clouds - and the wonderful harmony with which the heavenly bodies work, in a wonderfully organised teamwork with the mighty control of the Omnipotent Will, the raising of the water to be stored in the clouds - the distribution of the rain to the various parts of the earth according to mysteriously planned allotment of the fixed annual quota and thousands of the other marvels, are too great and unapproachable for the human intellect to assess the correct value or worth of even a single one of them.
The three passages - verses 5-7, the reference is to the mechanism of heavenly bodies and their functioning harmoniously and the earth: its expansion in a harmonious way and to the soul and the harmonious functioning of its various faculties. (A.P.)
Verse 6
The earth, with the invaluable stores of minerals, metals, liquids and gasses treasured in it and its usefulness to life on it, its rivers and springs, the wide, deep and mighty oceans, its fixed and immovable mountains, the various kinds of climate in the different parts of it, with the variety of its soil in its appearance and its properties, it being in global form and yet serving as a plain to the habitations and the innumerable other wonderful properties and its unlimited usefulness, all these are the great marvels which only an intelligent study can disclose.
Verse 7
The soul, particularly the human, is one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. The different faculties endowed in it, its gradual development or progress in consciousness, the zenith of the same soul which at its birth could not utter even a single syllable and which could not help its body to take a turn of its own accord, becomes the best gymnast, best scholar and the best sage, every soul by itself is a separate wonder.
Verse 8
The soul was inspired by God, its Almighty and All-wise Author - the consciousness and the faculty of discretion to distinguish impiety and piety, the right conduct and the wrong ways of life. This is the most invaluable gift granted exclusively to man.
Make it known to it what is Vice and what is Virtue. Vices are termed as ‘Fujoor’ meaning bursts, and Virtue as ‘Taqwa’ guarding, to indicate that Vices are the outcome of loose conduct and Virtue is the outcome of self-control and will power. The example is given in verse 12. (A.P.).
Verse 9
The success of every human individual male and female, as achieved the right goal of this life, the salvation, depends upon preserving the soul in its original purity against its getting soiled, polluted and clouded by the carnal desires, by submitting it to the will and the pleasure of the Lord8.
Verse 10
Corruption in the faith in the True God, the Lord, and the failure of the control over the self against its rebellious passions towards the realisation of the carnal desires, leads the soul in the march of life, to perdition.
Verse 11-14
The Prophet was Saleh. The above verses invite the attention of man, to the fate of the people9 who acted rebellious to the instructions of apostle Saleh and hamstrung the She camel, which was sent as a trial, which conduct of the people brought perdition to them.
Verse 14
Hamstrung with no reason, save the rebellious nature which made them commit the heinous act. The Holy Prophet of Islam said: ‘‘The wicked person among the ancients, is the murderer of the harmless She Camel of Saleh which was endowed to the service of God and the most wicked person of the latter age is the murderer of Ali Ibn Ahi Talib as there is no justification for the heinous crimes but the rebellious spirit against a person who has devoted his life from his birth to death to the service of God”
This Tradition has been narrated by Usman son of Suhail from his father and from Ammar Ibn Yasir - that the Holy Prophet said this and put his hand on Ali’s forehead and Ali’s beard saying ‘‘that the wicked one will make his beard dyed of the blood of his forehead” And one can see that the Muslim who did not raise any objection to the crime committed against the one who was loved by God and the Holy Prophet, and his devotees were afflicted with the tortures of civil wars until now. (A.P.).
Verse 15
When the decree of the Lord comes, it cares not for the consequence which the people might meet.
