The Sun (Al-Shams)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
I CALL TO witness the sun and his early morning splendour, 1 And the moon as she follows in his wake, 2 And the day when it shows it, 3 by the night, when it envelops it! 4 and by the sky and by Him Who made it; 5 And the earth and Him Who extended it, 6 Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be, 7 and imbued it with (the consciousness of) its evil and its piety: 8 Truly he succeeds that purifies it, 9 And miserable is he who hath buried it. 10 TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud, 11 Behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed (for impiety). 12 But the Messenger of Allah said to them: "It is a She-camel of Allah! And (bar her not from) having her drink!" 13 But they gave him the lie, and cruelly slaughtered her - whereupon their Sustainer visited them with utter destruction for this their sin, destroying them all alike: 14 and He fears not the issue thereof. 15