The Sun (Al-Shams)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
I CALL TO witness the sun and his early morning splendour, 1 By the Moon as she follows him; 2 Consider the day as it reveals the world, 3 and by the night when it enshrouds him! 4 By the heaven and That which built it 5 And the earth and Him Who extended it, 6 And a soul and Him Who perfected it 7 Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him; 8 He who purifies it will indeed be successful, 9 and failed is he who buried it! 10 TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud, 11 When the basest of them broke forth 12 So the Noble Messenger of Allah said to them, “Stay away from the she camel of Allah, and from its turn to drink.” 13 But they rejected his statement as a lie and hamstrung the she-camel. For that crime their Lord rumbled down upon them, utterly razing them to the ground. 14 He does not fear the consequence. 15