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 and the moon as it reflects the sun! 2 by the day, when it displays it, 3 and by the night when it draws a veil over it, 4 And the heaven and Him Who made it, 5 By the earth and Him Who spread it forth, 6 By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; 7 and inspired it with knowledge of evil and piety, 8 He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow, 9 And indeed failed is the one who covered it in sin. 10 Thamud denied [their prophet] by reason of their transgression, 11 when that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit his evil deed,] 12 And the apostle of God had to tell them: "This is God's she-camel, let her drink." 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 God is not afraid of the result of what He had decreed. 15