The Sun (Al-Shams)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I CALL TO witness the sun and his early morning splendour, 1 By the moon when it followeth it, 2 And the day when it revealeth him, 3 by the night, when it envelops it! 4 Consider the sky and its wondrous make, 5 by the earth and that (Power) which spread it out 6 and by the soul and that (Power) which designed it 7 then inspired it to understand what was right and wrong for it. 8 He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow, 9 And he who confines it will surely come to grief. 10 TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud, 11 when that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit his evil deed,] 12 The Messenger of God told them, "This is a she-camel, belonging to God. Do not deprive her of her share of water". 13 Then they rejected him (as a false prophet), and they hamstrung her. So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal (in destruction, high and low)! 14 And He fears not its consequence. 15