الشمس
Ash-Shams
The Sun • makkah • 15 Verses
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وَٱلشَّمْسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا
Important Words:
واو is a particle of swearing, meaning 'by' or 'I swear' or 'I cite as witness or call to witness' (Lane & Aqrab). See also 37:2.
الشمس (the sun), is a substantive noun from شـمس (shamasa). They say شـمس الرجل i.e. the man abstained from and refused to obey because he considered himself too big to give allegiance to anyone. شـمس الفرس means, the horse refused to be ridden or became rebellious against its rider and ran away refusing to be ridden by reason of the vehemence of its force of resistance. شـمس لی فلان means, such a one showed enmity to me (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
God’s swearing by His creatures is a method adopted by the Quran. The Quranic oaths have deep meaning underlying them. In ordinary transactions when a person takes an oath, his object is to supply the deficiency of insufficient testimony. The object and meaning of God’s oaths must, however, be distinguished from those of the oaths of mortals. Divine laws reveal two aspects of the works of God, viz. the obvious and the inferential. The former are easily comprehensible; in the comprehension of the latter there is room for error. In the taking of oaths God has called attention to what may be inferred from what is obvious.
Taking the oaths mentioned in the following verses, we see that the sun and the moon, the day and the night, heavens and earth belong to the "obvious;" their properties as referred to in these verses are universally known and acknowledged. But the same properties found in man’s soul are not obvious. To lead to an inference of the existence of these properties in the soul of man God has called to witness His obvious works.
"The sun" in the verse may refer to the sun of the spiritual universe—the Holy Prophet—who is the source of all light and who will continue to enlighten the world till the end of time. For a detailed note on this and the following five verses see v. 7.
The Quranic oaths have deep meaning underlying them. Divine laws reveal two aspects of the works of God viz. the obvious and the inferential. The former are easily comprehensible; in the comprehension of the latter there is room for error. In His oaths God has called attention to what may be inferred from what is obvious. In the oaths mentioned in verses, 2-7, the sun and the moon, the day and the night, the heavens and the earth belong to the "obvious"—their properties, referred to in these verses being universally known and acknowledged. But the same properties found in man’s soul are not obvious. To lead to an inference of the existence of these properties in the human soul God has called to witness His obvious works. See also {2465}.
"The sun" in the verse may refer to the sun of the spiritual universe— the Holy Prophet—who is the source of all spiritual light and who will continue to enlighten the world till the end of time.
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَىٰهَا
Important Words:
القمر (the moon). They say قمر الشیء i.e. the brightness of the thing became intense. قمر means, the moon; a star which borrows its light from the sun and reflects it on to the earth and thus removes the darkness of the night. (Lane & Aqrab). See also 54:2.
تلاھا (follows him). تلوته means, I followed him or it immediately or without intervention. ھو یتلو فلاناً means, he imitates such a one and follows what he does (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:103.
Commentary:
"The moon" may be taken as referring to the Holy Prophet, who like the moon, draws his light from God and transmits it to the spiritually dark world. Or it may refer to those religious divines and Reformers—particularly the Promised Messiah—who borrow the light of truth from the Holy Prophet and transmit it to the world to remove the darkness of moral and spiritual turpitude.
"The moon" may also refer to the Holy Prophet, because he received light from God and transmitted it to the spiritually dark world. Or it may refer to those religious Divines and Reformers—particularly his Great Deputy, the Promised Messiah—who would borrow the light of truth from the Holy Prophet and transmit it to the world to remove the darkness of moral and spiritual turpitude.
وَٱلنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّىٰهَا
Commentary:
"The day" may signify the time during which the Message of Islam and the truth of its Founder was further fortified and foundations were laid for the universal propagation of the vital doctrines of the new Faith. The reference in the verse may particularly be to the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—the first four Successors of the Holy Prophet. In their time the light of Islam revealed its glory and splendour to the world.
"The day" may signify the time during which the Message of Islam and the truth of its Founder were established and foundations were laid for their propagation in the world. The reference in the verse may particularly be to the time of the Holy Prophet’s 'rightly-guided Caliphs' when the light of Islam shone in all its glory and splendour.
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰهَا
Commentary:
"The night" may refer to the period of decline and decadence of Muslims when the light of Islam had become veiled from the eyes of the world. These four verses (2-5) refer to four periods in the eventful career of Islam, viz. (1) the time of the Holy Prophet himself when the spiritual sun (the Holy Prophet) was shining in full splendour in the spiritual heaven; (2) the time of the Promised Messiah when the light derived from the Holy Prophet was being reflected on to a dark world; (3) the time of the Holy Prophet’s immediate Successors when the light of Islam was still shining and, (4) the period when spiritual darkness had spread over the world after the first three centuries of Islam which was its most glorious period.
"The night" may refer to the period of decline and decadence of Muslims when the light of Islam had become veiled from the eyes of the world. These four verses (2-5) refer to four periods in the eventful career of Islam, viz. (1) the time of the Holy Prophet himself when the Spiritual Sun (the Holy Prophet) was shining in full splendour in the spiritual heaven; (2) the time of his Great Deputy the Promised Messiah when the light derived from the Holy Prophet was being reflected onto a dark world; (3) the time of the Holy Prophet’s immediate Successors when the light of Islam was still shining and, (4) the period when spiritual darkness had spread over the world after the first three centuries of Islam which was its most glorious period.
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا
Commentary:
The particle ما (ma) in this and the next two verses is either مصدریة (masdariyyah) as in the text, or it stands for منmeaning, 'He Who.' Thus in these verses attention has been focused on the great Designer and Architect of the universe, and on the perfection and complete freedom from flaw or defect in the design and creation of man and the universe.
The particle ma in this and the next two verses is either Masdariyyah, or it signifies Alladhi, i.e. 'he who.' Thus in these verses attention is focused on the great Designer and Architect of the universe, or on its perfection and complete freedom from every flaw and defect.
وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا
وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا
Commentary:
The verse means that all the properties and forces which the great heavenly bodies such as the sun and the moon, etc. devote to the service of God’s creatures and to which reference has been made in the following verses bear witness to man having been endowed with similar qualities in a high degree. In fact, man is a universe in miniature and in his soul is represented, on a small scale, all that exists in the external universe. Like the sun he sheds his lustre over the world and enlightens it with the light of wisdom and knowledge. Like the moon he transmits to those who are in the dark the light of vision, inspiration and revelation which he borrows from the Great Original Source. He is bright like the day, and shows the ways of truth and virtue. Like the night he draws the veil over the faults and misdeeds of others, lightens their burdens and gives rest to the tired and the weary. Like the heavens he takes every distressed soul under his shelter and revives the lifeless earth, with salubrious rain. Like the earth he submits in all humility and lowliness to be trampled under the feet by others as a trial for them, and from his purified soul various sorts of trees of knowledge and truth grow up in abundance, and with their shade, flowers and fruits, he spiritually regales the world. Such are the great divines and Heavenly Reformers, of whom the greatest and the most perfect was the Holy Prophet.
The verse means that all the properties which the great heavenly bodies such as the sun and the moon, etc. devote to the service of God’s creatures and to which an implied reference has been made in verse 10, bear witness to man having been endowed with similar qualities in a high degree. In fact, man is a universe in miniature and in him is represented, on a small scale, all that exists in the external universe. Like the sun he sheds his lustre over the world and enlightens it with the light of wisdom and knowledge. Like the moon he transmits to those who are in the dark the light of vision, inspiration and revelation which he borrows from the Great Original Source. He is bright like the day and shows the ways of truth and virtue. Like the night he draws the veil over the faults and misdeeds of others, lightens their burdens and gives rest to the tired and the weary. Like the heavens he takes every distressed soul under his shelter and revives the lifeless earth with salubrious rain. Like the earth he s
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا
Commentary:
The verse means that after creating the celestial and the terrestrial systems, and bringing into existence man—the acme and apex of the whole creation—and endowing him with great natural potentialities and qualities, God did not leave him alone. He implanted in his nature a feeling or sense of what is good or bad. Or the verse may mean that God reveals to man that he could achieve spiritual perfection by eschewing what is bad and wrong and adopting what is right and good because it is through Divine revelation that man could achieve it.
God has implanted in man’s nature a feeling or sense of what is good and bad and has revealed to him that he could achieve spiritual perfection by eschewing what is bad and wrong and adopting what is right and good.
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا
Important Words:
زکا (purifies) is transitive from زکا (zaka) which means, it increased or augmented. زکا الزرع means, the harvest grew and increased. زکا الغلام means, the boy grew up. العلم یزکو علی الانفاق means, knowledge increases by expending (Lane & Aqrab).
وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا
Important Words:
دسا (corrupts). دساه means, he hid it; he buried it; he corrupted it. من دساھا means, who corrupts it; makes it vile by evil works; who makes it obscure or stuns its growth (Lane & Aqrab).
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَىٰهَآ
Commentary:
In this and the next four verses is cited the example of the tribe of Thamud who defied Divine guidance and opposed their Prophet working out thereby their own ruin.
إِذِ ٱنۢبَعَثَ أَشْقَىٰهَا
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ نَاقَةَ ٱللَّهِ وَسُقْيَٰهَا
Commentary:
The Prophet Salih kept the she-camel for travels. He rode on it from place to place to preach the Divine Message. Putting obstacles in the way of its free movements was tantamount to placing impediments in the way of Salih himself and preventing him from discharging the sacred duty entrusted to him. In fact, every Divine Reformer is ناقة الله (God’s she-camel).
The Prophet Salih rode on his she-camel from place to place to preach the Divine Message. Putting obstacles in the way of the camel’s free movements was tantamount to placing impediments in the way of Salih himself and preventing him from discharging the sacred duty entrusted to him by God. In a sense Salih, like every Divine Reformer, was God’s she-camel.
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسَوَّىٰهَا
Important Words:
دمدم علیھم (destroyed them completely). They say دمدم فلان علی فلان i.e. such a one spoke to such a one in anger. دمدم علیه means, he destroyed or crushed him completely or punished him thoroughly. دمدم علیھم ربھم means, their Lord crushed them, punished them and destroyed them completely; or made the earth to quake with them or was angry with them (Lane & Aqrab).
وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَٰهَا
Commentary:
When a people incur Divine punishment and are thus destroyed. God does not care for those who survive the destruction or for the utterly miserable state to which they are reduced. The verse may also be taken as containing a warning to the Meccans that if they behaved like the Thamud, they will be punished like them.
When a people incur Divine punishment and are destroyed, God does not care for those who survive the destruction or the meaning is that God does not care to what utterly miserable state they are reduced.