Surah Ash-Shams 91:1-15 - Quran Translation Commentary

2. When the sun rises, its light brightens the entire world. The heat of the sun increases as it rises in the sky. This condition is the proof that the reins of the sun are in the hands of his Creator, because he rises at the appointed hour and continues its progressive journey, as fixed by Him.

3. If the sun spreads his light during the day, the moon shines during the night. The sun is the king of the day and the moon is the queen of the night, as she adorns her ‘gathering’ during the night. In view of this reality it is mentioned that the moon follows the sun. This explanation is correct from this angle also that the moon receives its light from the sun. So the moon’s being a follower of the sun is the clear proof that like the sun, the moon’s rein of control is also in the hands of her Creator.

4.The entire brightness of the sun is during the day only, as it is the day that manifests him, and the sun dare not appear in the sky before his time. Although the rising of the sun is the result of the rotation of the earth, but here the purpose is not to discus the geographical or the astronomical aspect, but the purpose is to draw the attention to this important reality that the various stages and conditions through which the earth passes take place under a regular and well planned system. In this system of the Nature every thing even the sun which give light to the world is so bound that none can deviate from the journey fixed for it, otherwise the entire system of the world will go helter skelter.

5. The part of the world in which there is night the light of the sun does not reach that part during the night. It so appears that the night has covered the sun. This style of speech is adopted according to the actual observation. The point to be conveyed here is that in the part of the world where there is night, the sun cannot appear there at that time. In other words, he is compelled to hide his face during the night, and his helplessness in this connection is the proof of the fact that he cannot deviate, even to the extent of an hair, from following the law which his Creator has appointed him to follow. Indirectly this fact also negates the ideology of atheism and also polytheism, for if the sun were to have been created as an accident, he would not have been subject to a fixed, firm and unfailing system; and if he were a god, he would not have been bound by the Law of the Nature as at present he is, and it would not have been possible for the night to have covered his face, and he on the basis of his own power would have appeared during the night also. But in this whole solar system the restrictions that are found very clearly and unambiguously negative the polytheistic idea of the sun being a god.

6. Swearing by the heaven means that its magnificent construction and its lofty height point to the fact that its control is also in the hands of the Creator.

By swearing “by Him who built it” is to explain that the Creator of the heaven is a Being who is absolutely Powerful, and His existence is such a reality that it is beyond any shadow of doubt.

An oath is employed to give evidence of some fact. It is also used for emphasizing the aspect a statement’s being definite and certain. Accordingly here and in the two verse occurring hereafter the swearing “by Him” is used to express this meaning, i.e. for emphasis.

7. Perfecting the soul means that Allah has created the soul of man on the right nature and has ingrained in it high capabilities. He as not made man a born sinner, nor has He made him naturally corrupt and wicked that he may be compelled by his nature to adopt a rebellious attitude towards God and take on the Satanic traits. Allah has mad man a right natured being, and in his soul there is no factor of corruption or wickedness, that he may not be able to follow the right path if he wants to, and may be compelled to take the path of transgression. This fact has been clearly expressed by the holy Quran at another place.

“Allah’s that nature on which He has created men.” (Room - 30)

It has further been explained by the Prophet in the following hadith:

“There is no child that is not born on the nature. Then his parents make him a jew, a Christian or a polytheist.” (Muslim Kitabul Qadr).

8. Allah has given men the ability to recognize good and evil to enable them to distinguish between righteousness and wickedness. A man is able to feel that a particular thing or act is good or bad. Accordingly man considers falsehood, aggression, excess and obscenity naturally bad and hates this kind of acts and manners. He considers truth, justice, human sympathy, modesty and care for chastity as good and desirable. He likes this kind of acts and manners. This recognition, and consciousness is in reality the guidance of nature and this guidance has been ingrained by Allah in every soul, which has been termed here as ‘Ilham’ (inspiration).

This recognition is the evidence that man is a moral creature with responsibility and when his position is such then it demands that he should be made accountable for his acts before his Lord and the consequences of the deeds should be placed before him. The meaning of not admitting this evidence of the soul (self) would be that man’s nature is wrong, his consciousness is false and his existence is purposeless, but nobody is prepared to say this thing, although crores of people spend their lives against the evidence of the soul and remain under a wrong impression that they are free to do whatever they like and they will never be required to face its consequences.

It should be noted that this inspiration to help man recognize wickedness and righteousness is Allah’s guidance in a way. However, perfect By guidance has been provided by Allah by means of the divine revelation. This divine guidance which is now available in the form of the holy Quran makes the natural consciousness ingrained in the human soul perfect and refines it. And from here it becomes clear that those to whom the divine guidance has not reached, are responsible for their good or bad acts on account of their natural consciousness, and in this connection they will also have to account for their deeds before Allah.

9. In the text the word “Zakkaha” is used which, is derived from, “Tazkiyah”, which means to purify, and to nourish. In the above verse the inspiration for recognizing good and evil has been mentioned which also explains the meaning of the purification of the soul, that is to purify the self from wickedness and to nourish it with the fear of God and righteousness.

In other words to nurse or train the self in such a way that good and righteousness are encouraged and achieve prominence.

The real progress of self and the nourishment of the soul lie in developing this quality. This reality can be understood by an example: A plant can grow only when it gets a congenial environment and it is properly watered. Otherwise a powerful breeze would be sufficient to uproot it.

The topic that has been discussed in this Surah brings into prominence a more important aspect which is that man should first of all, purify himself of disbelief and transgression and should accept the divine guidance and become an, obedient slave of Allah. The path of obedience is the path of the Shariah, by following which man can become righteous and virtuous.

This is simple, straight and the Quranic meaning of the purification of self. There is no vagueness or ambiguity in it. Nor does it require any philosophical discussion, nor any necessity of getting involved in useless argumentation. The best and the most effective recipe presented by the Quran for the purification of self is Allah’s exalted and perfect Shariah, that needs no addition of ‘tariqat’ (sufism) nor of any painful exercises. It does not require any ‘meditation’ nor of passing through stages of ‘suluk’ (sufism). It suffices to follow the Shariah with faith, belief, sincerity and selflessness.

By directing man to the right method of purification of the self, Quran has relieved him of all those unnatural and awkward methods and says which the followers of many religions have Invented with a view to purifying the atma or the soul, for example yoga, tapasya, self- abnegation, ascetism, etc.

The last point in this connection is that without the help of Allah the task of purification of self cannot be accomplished, and for this reason the Prophet has taught his followers to recite this prayer:

“O Allah! grant my self its piety and purify it as you are the Best Purifier. and its Guardian and Supporter.”(Muslim Kitabuz Zikr).

10. Instead of adopting the way of piety and purifying the self, he has taken to the path of wickedness and has corrupted the self with evil and sins Thus the consequence of repressing the inclination for righteousness and allowing the tendency of committing wickedness to overpower him, man has allowed the bud of the self which could have blossomed into a flower to Wither, the flower whose fragrance would have scented his whole being was allowed to with Internally, as mourned by a poet:

“Hasrat in ghuncho pe hai jo bin khile murjhaye” Translation: “A pity of those buds that have wilted without blossoming.”

The explanation of the statement made after the oaths in the verses Nos. 1 to 7 is this — The reins of control of everything from the sun to the soul of man is in the hands of Allah, and the existence of all these things and the conditions that arise from their creation all signify and give evidence of the fact that their Creator is the Possessor of absolute power and Most Wise. When nobody dare say or do anything against His power and when His Wisdom has created man as a conscious being and as a distinguisher of good and evil, then the right policy for man can only be that he should take to the path of obedience and submission to Him and should live his life with this sense that one day he has to appear before his Lord for accounting for his acts, and that he has to face the consequence of his good or bad act. Quran want man to concentrate on this reality so that he may shape his life accordingly and when he may return from this testing ground of the world, the goal of his success may be before his eyes.

Although this reality is being supported by everything from the earth to heaven and the self of man itself is an evidence of this reality, yet man is prepared to admit this reality with difficulty. He wants to be indifferent to the divine guidance. and therefore he adopts the policy of disobedience and transgression, as a result of which a trait of irresponsibility is generated in him and then he is unable to distinguish between good and evil.

This is a very important and vast topic, which has been dealt with in the above verses.

11. In support of the statement made above, the historical evidence is being presented to show how sad and sorry is the consequence of transgression and rebellion. The event concerning the nation of Thamud has, been narrated in Quran in detail at different places. In this Surah it has been mentioned briefly. Denying here refers to the denial of the call of Hazrat Saleh Prophet, who was sent by Allah for their guidance. About the habitat of the people of Thamud, please see Note 13 Surah Fajr.

12. This most wicked man of the basest of them all was a chief of the people of Thamud and his name was Qidar. His mention is founds in the verses if the poetry of the period of Jahiliyah (pre- Islamic days).

He is called the most wicked man because he was excessive in his rebellion against Allah, and he set a very bad example of transgression by misleading his people and consequently he himself was destroyed and his nation was also obliterated from the earth.

13. Refers to Hazrat Saleh, who was sent to that nation as Prophet to guide them.

14. The people of Thamud had demanded of Prophet Saleh that it he really was a Messenger of Allah then he should show some miracle. On this demand of theirs. Allah presented a shecamel as a miracle or as His sign. Since this shecamel was presented as a miracle, she has been called as “Naqatullah”(Allah’s she-camel).

Where this miracle met their demands, there it also put them to a test. It was so ordained that Hazrat Saleh said that a particular day would be fixed for her to drink water from a particular well, and another day for them and for their animals. He warned them not to harm the she-camel, or else Allah’s wrath would destroy them. But the people prompted their wicked chief to kill the shecamel.

15. For killing the camel his hamstrings were cut, after which he used to die. This method was adopted by the nation of Thamud for killing the she-camel of Allah And for this purpose all the people prompted their wicked chief to go ahead with the killing For this act, the entire nation was adjudged criminal.

16. They were destroyed in such a way that their remains were mixed with the dust, i.e. they were completely and totally destroyed.

17. Do not consider Allah like the worldly rulers, who are afraid of the consequences while inflicting punishment on some criminal groups. They are afraid whether this punishing them would result in any kind of danger to their power. Allah’s power is above every thing and He is Supreme over all and everybody. Therefore when He decide to punish any nation, no fear of consequences or reprisals ever brothers Him.