Ash-Shams الشمس
Makki · 15 ayat · 15 with pondering
- Ayah 1The surah's first witness is the sun at the height of its morning reign: the greatest light we see, and already moving on.
- Ayah 2The moon follows the sun and shines with what it receives: the most loved light of the night owns none of its brightness.
- Ayah 3Each morning the day unveils the sun and the waking world, a small rehearsal sworn by the One who alone will unveil the Hour.
- Ayah 4Every evening the night covers the sun: a covering Allah sends and lifts, which hides the light but has never put it out.
- Ayah 5The oaths now name the Maker beside His work: whatever is above you is His building, and He is greater than its roof.
- Ayah 6The dry ground beneath you was spread out and held clear of the sea by Another; you live on it as a guest.
- Ayah 7After sun, sky and earth, the last witness is the closest: a soul, and the One who shaped it in balance, ready to grow.
- Ayah 8Every soul was given, whole and before any argument, a knowing of what would breach it and what would shield it.
- Ayah 9Seven oaths, and then the sentence they were sworn for: whoever makes his soul grow clean and tall has already succeeded.
- Ayah 10The one who fails is the one who buries his own soul, pushing it out of sight until its fire never catches.
- Ayah 11The abstract verdict becomes a people: Thamūd saw a sign as plain as the sun, and let their own overflowing drown the truth.
- Ayah 12One man sprang up for the deed: powerful, protected and eager, sent by a people who wanted it done.
- Ayah 13Two words at the edge, Allah's she-camel and her drink, held years of warning and a whole people's test.
- Ayah 14They called the warning a lie and cut her down; then their Lord closed the ground over them all, for their sin.
- Ayah 15The surah ends on the word 'its outcome': every earthly punisher fears what follows, but the One who warned first fears nothing.