Sūrat al-Shams
سورۃ الشمس
Sūrat al-Shams was revealed in Makkah and contains fifteen (15) āyāt.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا
wa-l-shamsi wa-ḍuḥāhā.
"By the sun and its brightness." (al-Shams 91:1)
Wa-l-shams — and the sun; Allah Most High presents the sun as testimony and from it draws admonition and counsel. In this way the light of the sun is the brilliant light of the divine essence — it presents itself to everyone's attention. The teaching and guidance of the Prophets illuminates hearts; they are good examples of the nature of the Prophets. Wa-ḍuḥāhā — and its brightness, ḍuḥā — the forenoon, and the light of the sun is like this — its brightness. Uḍḥiyya — a sacrifice; the sacrifice which is offered when the sun is visible in the morning — the sun itself and the ḍuḥā — meaning Allah Most High presents the manifestations (tajalliyyāt) of His own light to everyone and calls this as testimony.
Translation: (I present as) testimony the sun and its brightness (and its glow).
وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا
wa-l-qamari idhā talāhā.
"And the moon when it follows it." (al-Shams 91:2)
Wa-l-qamar — and the moon; and the moon is also a testimony. Idhā talāhā — when the moon follows the sun — it follows the sun's example: when the moon comes and follows the sun's path, it goes following its path, it follows its example, the moon's light is from the Prophet's light ﷺ — and this is why it is the sun's companion because its following the command of Allah.
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the moon when it follows the sun (comes following its light and path).
وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا
wa-l-nahāri idhā jallāhā.
"And the day when it displays it." (al-Shams 91:3)
Wa-l-nahār — and the day; the testimony of the day is the teaching of the Divine — when the day shines and displays ilāhī — idhā jallāhā — when it displays the sun; and when the sun manifests the face of the bride — like this: when the form of the illumination of the heart is displayed, when the manifestation (tajallī) of light from the teachings becomes illuminated.
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the day when it displays the sun's radiance.
وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا
wa-l-layli idhā yaghshāhā.
"And the night when it covers it." (al-Shams 91:4)
Wa-l-layl — and the night; the night is a testimony. Idhā yaghshāhā — when it covers the sun, covers it up. Yaghshīyahā — ghishāwa, ghishyān — to cover, to veil. Sometimes when neglect comes over the heart of a human being and the light of faith becomes weak, the manifestation of the ilāhī is dependent on it becoming stopped, it becomes still.
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the night when it covers the sun.
وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا
wa-l-samāʾi wa-mā banāhā.
"And the sky and He who built it." (al-Shams 91:5)
Wa-l-samāʾ — and the sky; the testimony of the divine emanations — the expanses of the sky. Wa-mā banāhā — and the One who built it — the power of Allah by which He built the sky, and the sky that He built.
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the sky and His power by which He built it.
وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا
wa-l-arḍi wa-mā ṭaḥāhā.
"And the earth and He who spread it." (al-Shams 91:6)
Wa-l-arḍ — and the earth; and the testimony is of the human heart — and the power of Allah by which He spread out the earth. Wa-mā ṭaḥāhā — and the one who spread it; who by His power spread out the earth. According to a hadith mā wasiʿanī arḍī wa-lā samāʾī illā qalbu l-muʾmin — "Neither the earth nor the sky can contain Me, but the heart of the believer contains Me" — but the heart of the believer can.
Wherever in creation there is a system — my heart is in it wherever there is a world —
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the earth and His power by which He spread it out (spread it).
وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا
wa-nafsin wa-mā sawwāhā.
"And the soul and He who proportioned it." (al-Shams 91:7)
Wa-nafsin — and the soul; the testimony is of the soul — and the power of Allah wa-mā sawwāhā — and the one who proportioned it; by His power He fashioned the human soul with suitable capacities. Abū llāhi mā shayʾu lfī bāli lī — there is nothing in my mind except the things of God — (Ḥaḍrat Ṣiddīqī)
Translation: And (I present as testimony) the soul and His power by which He fashioned it (formed it suitably).
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
fa-alhamahā fujūrahā wa-taqwāhā.
"And inspired it (with discernment of) its wickedness and its righteousness." (al-Shams 91:8)
Fa-alhamahā — then He inspired this soul, enlightened its mind — by imparting knowledge, dropping it into the heart. Fujūrahā — its wickedness; and inspired it with its sin, its wrong-doing; taqwā — piety; and inspired it with its piety — ittaqā — to protect oneself from God's anger; originally the word ittaqā — because in the chapter of verbs wāw becomes merged in.
Translation: Then He (God) informed every person (and made it understood) of its wickedness and its piety.
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا
qad aflaḥa man zakkāhā.
"He has succeeded who purifies it." (al-Shams 91:9)
Qad aflaḥa — very much succeeded, achieved the goal. Man zakkāhā — the one who purified it; whoever purified his soul, whoever cleansed it of evil temptations, whoever saved it from wrongdoing and bad creed and immoral behavior.
Translation: Very much succeeded (achieved success) the one who purified his soul (refined and purified it).
وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا
wa-qad khāba man dassāhā.
"And he has failed who instills it with corruption." (al-Shams 91:10)
Wa-qad khāba — and he failed and became hopeless; man dassāhā — the one who buried it. Dassā — man dassāhā — the one who buried it in the dust, the one who hid it; the word dassa means in that usage — to hide and conceal — dammasah — the small red snake that crawls in the earth pressing itself close to the ground — this is also one type.
Translation: And hopeless and unsuccessful became the one who buried his soul in the dust, buried it in the mud.
Now Allah Most High presents a specific example of a person to describe what is the result of disobeying God and the Prophet.
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَاهَا
kadhdhabat thamūdu bi-ṭaghwāhā.
"Thamūd denied (their Prophet) by reason of their transgression." (al-Shams 91:11)
Kadhdhabat — denied; rejected, rejected. Thamūdu — the tribe of Thamūd; where was the tribe of Thamūd? In the direction of Syria and between the valley of al-Qurā in the midst of the great mountains of Ḥijr — in the area between Syria the habitation was great. This was the largest of countries — when there was prosperity and good wealth there was always more prosperity; then the civilization and immoral conduct developed greatly, the idols were worshipped; the prosperity was great too — it was always growing; they had excessive luxury and pride, their rebellion grew because of it. Who did Thamūd reject? The decrees of Ṣāliḥ (upon him be peace)?
Translation: (The tribe of) Thamūd denied (Ṣāliḥ's ﷺ) message because of their transgression.
It is clear that in Ṣāliḥ's (upon him be peace) time there was great prosperity and civilization — the rebellion and immorality were growing too — Ṣāliḥ (upon him be peace) gave admonition to people, however people did not accept. He showed a miracle — the Messenger of Allah came to them and said: "Leave the camel to eat and drink" — but people did not accept. The miracle came — the camel would walk freely and drink water freely each day — one woman had a child near it, and there were very many animals close to this woman. The camel disturbed these animals in drinking water. The desire to have the camel killed arose in the heart of an immoral woman — the camel was a miracle of God and not to be killed — then God struck them with a very great punishment — and the end of that nation was God's command.
إِذِ انبَعَثَ أَشْقَاهَا
idhi nbaʿatha ashqāhā.
"When the most wretched of them was roused." (al-Shams 91:12)
Idhi nbaʿatha — when the most wicked was stirred up, he rose and was ready. Asqāhā — the most wretched of the whole of Thamūd; the most miserable from all, the most wretched. Wretchedness — misery; the most wretched — al-ashqā — is the superlative of wretchedness. This action of Thamūd is the most wretched act because the whole nation was destroyed as a result of it.
Translation: When the most wretched of them (to kill the camel) rose up (the most miserable of all of Thamūd).
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ نَاقَةَ اللَّهِ وَسُقْيَاهَا
fa-qāla lahum rasūlu llāhi nāqata llāhi wa-suqyāhā.
"And the messenger of Allah said to them, 'Leave the she-camel of Allah and her drink.'" (al-Shams 91:13)
Fa-qāla lahum — then the messenger of God said to them — meaning the Prophet Ṣāliḥ (upon him be peace). Rasūlu llāh — the messenger of Allah. Nāqata llāh — here God's camel is the decree of God; ittaqū — be wary! Wa-suqyāhā — and its drink; let it drink water; do not prevent it from drinking.
Translation: Then the messenger of Allah (the Prophet Ṣāliḥ ﷺ) said to them: "This is Allah's she-camel — do not kill it — let it drink water."
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ بِذَنبِهِمْ فَسَوَّاهَا
fa-kadhdhabūhu fa-ʿaqarūhā fa-damdama ʿalayhim rabbuhum bi-dhanbihim fa-sawwāhā.
"But they denied him and hamstrung her. So their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin and made it equal." (al-Shams 91:14)
Translation: Then the people of Thamūd denied the Prophet Ṣāliḥ (upon him be peace) — they rejected his teaching — then they cut the hamstring of the camel. Fa-ʿaqarūhā — then they poured destruction upon them — then their Lord poured down the calamity of destruction on them because of their sins. Bi-dhanbihim — because of their sins. Fa-sawwāhā — then He leveled it (the nation) to the ground, obliterating it completely.
وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَاهَا
wa-lā yakhāfu ʿuqbāhā.
"And He does not fear the consequence thereof." (al-Shams 91:15)
Wa-lā yakhāfu — and God is not afraid; He does not fear; neither does God fear the bad consequence of this nation. ʿUqbāhā — the consequence of this nation; the bad consequence — just like something bad is done and it comes to an end.
Translation: And Allah Most High does not worry about the bad consequences of their end.
Friends! The word ashqā also has a hadith for the killer of our master ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him). There is also a single example — ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muljam was also in love with a woman and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muljam was also in love with the woman ʿAmmār. He used to have the whole tribe of Thamūd condemned to death — the camel was the worst act — and the Prophet Ṣāliḥ (upon him be peace) showed the miracle. Ten years he was in the service of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — the first of all to believe. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ loved ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) greatly — the akhyar of the fuqarāʾ mostly reach the chain of ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) — our four khalīfāʾ are after the Prophet ﷺ — the best of all are they — and they are the orthodox caliphs, Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) being the fourth caliph. Does anyone have doubt that Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) is the Vicegerent of the Messenger of God? After killing the camel and the punishment not descending — why was it delayed after killing the camel? The answer to this is that the fifth khalīfa namely Imam Ḥasan (may Allah have mercy on him) was still to come. This punishment is small — the apparent Islamic government and worldly sovereignty came to an end.