By Eman Abdallah Kamel
Eman is a writer and engineer. She additionally studied online at the Zad Scientific Academy (Shariah).
In this article, you will learn about an explanation of the verses of Surah Ash-Shams and their most important benefits.
Image source: artsandculture.google.com
Surah Ash-Shams (The Sun)
In the beginning of Surah Ash-Shams, God Almighty swore by the sun and its bright light and by the moon. Allah Almighty also swore by day and night, just as God swore by heaven and earth. They are all cosmic phenomena that indicate God’s power, the Creator of this universe.
Allah Almighty also swore by the soul and the One Who fashioned it. God Almighty created the human soul. He then made clear the path of good and evil for it.
Then the verses urge us to purify ourselves from evil and sin and to do more good deeds.
The verses include the story of the people of Thamud, their denial of the Prophet Saleh (peace and blessings of Allah upon him), and their killing of the she-camel. So God Almighty destroyed them because of their sins and tyranny. And God Almighty saved His Prophet Saleh and his faithful followers.
Surah Ash-Shams: Meccan, Surah number: 91, Number of verses: 15, Number of words: 54.
Explanation (Tafsir)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
{1} By the sun and its brightness (Duhaha),
Allah Almighty swore by the sun and its light because of its great signs that indicate the perfection of God’s power and mercy. The sun has countless benefits. It provides the earth with light, warmth, and rays, and helps plants, animals, and humans grow. To learn more about the benefits of the sun, visit The Power of the Sun (education.nationalgeographic.org).
If you want to increase your knowledge about the health benefits of the sun, visit How Sunlight Helps You Stay Healthy.
{2} And (by) the moon as it follows it,
Meaning: The moon follows the sun in movement and lighting.
The movement: Whereas the sun creeps eastward only one degree per day concerning the stars, the moon moves eastward concerning the stars by about 13 degrees per day. So the moon travels eastward about 12 degrees toward the sun (13–1), which means the moon rises later and later each successive day. Similarly, the moon sets later each day and sets at any time of day or night, depending on its position relative to the sun. The moon is always seen near the ecliptic, but its motion carries it about five degrees to either side each month. To learn more about the moon’s motions, visit physics.weber.edu/schroeder/ua/Moon and Eclipses.html.
Lighting: Because when the sun sets, the moonlight begins. The moon is a dark body that reflects sunlight.
So God Almighty swore by the sun because it is the sign of the day and by the moon because it is the sign of the night.
Allah Almighty says:
It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outrun the day. But each travels in an orbit of its own.
Ya-Sin 36:40
{3} And (by) the day as it unveils it,
God Almighty swears by the day that made the sun visible to us. The sun’s rays cannot be seen except after they have been scattered and reflected many times on objects in the lower layer of the Earth’s gaseous atmosphere, such as dust, water vapor, and molecules of gases that make up the air in a certain concentration.
The sun is white, and most of the energy coming from the sun is invisible except for visible light (the colors of the spectrum). Dust, water vapor, and dense air molecules make up most of the density of the lower layer of the Earth’s gaseous atmosphere. The colors of the spectrum are scattered when visible light enters the Earth’s gaseous atmosphere, giving us a white color during the day.
{4} And (by) the night when it conceals it!
God Almighty swears by the night when it covers the sun.
The darkness of the night is two darknesses: the darkness of the universe and the darkness of the earth’s night.
The Earth rotates around its axis, causing day and night. There will be light in the half that faces the sun and darkness in the other. Thus, places on the sunlit side will experience day, while places on the unlit or shaded side will experience night.
The Earth’s night covers the sun with a layer of darkness that meets the darkness of the universe, so we do not see the sun.
{5} And by heaven and He Who built it,
Meaning: By heaven and its precision construction, and by God, the Great, the Wise, Who built it.
Allah Almighty says:
And the universe We constructed with strength, and surely We are (its) expander.
Adh-Dhariyat (The Winnowing Winds) 51:47
{6} And (by) the earth and He Who spread it,
Meaning: by the earth and the One Creator Who extended and spread it out.
It is from the mercy of God Almighty that He spread out and leveled the earth and made it suitable for creation to live on. Allah Almighty says:
30. As for the earth, He spread it out,
31. He brought forth its water and its pasture.
An-Nazi’at (Those who drag forth) 79:30,31
{7} And (by) the soul and He Who fashioned it,
Meaning: By the soul and the One Who created and proportioned it.
{8} And inspired it (with discernment of) its evil and its good,
God Almighty has shown humans the paths of good and evil, distinguished them from all other creatures by mind and will, and left them the choice. Allah Almighty says:
And We have shown them the two ways (right and wrong)?
Al-Balad (The City) 90:10
Allah Almighty also says:
We surely showed them the way, whether they chose to be grateful or ungrateful.
Al-Insan (The Man) 76:3
{9} Indeed, he has succeeded the one who purifies it.
Whoever purifies himself from evil and sin has succeeded. He obeys God Almighty by adhering to fasting, prayer, and other acts of obedience and abstaining from alcohol, usury, adultery, and other forbidden acts.
{10} And indeed, doomed is the one who corrupts it.
Whoever immerses himself in desires and sins and turns away from obedience to God is doomed.
{11} Thamūd denied (their prophet) because of their arrogance,
Thamud was the name of a tribe whose prophet was Salih, peace be upon him. Their homes were in Al-Hijr, Saudi Arabia. They denied their prophet, Salih, due to their arrogance. Prophet Salih, peace be upon him, called them to worship God alone, with no partner or associate. Allah Almighty made a sign proving his prophethood: the she-camel that would drink from the well one day and give them milk to drink the next.
If you want to learn more about the story of the Prophet Saleh (peace and blessings be upon him) and the miracle of the female camel, you can watch this video on YouTube or visit Miracle Stories: The She-Camel of Allah.
{12} when the most wretched of them was roused (to kill the female camel).
When the most wicked member of the Thamud tribe quickly set off to kill the she-camel, it was a miracle from Allah for them.
{13} But the messenger of Allah warned them, “[Do not harm] the she-camel of Allah or [prevent it from] her drink.”
Meaning: The Prophet Saleh (peace and blessings upon him) said to the people of Thamud: Leave the female camel alone; do not kill or harm it.
{14} But they denied him and killed her. So their Lord crushed them for their sin and made it level (upon all of them).
But they rejected what the Prophet of Allah came with and killed the female camel that Allah Almighty had brought out of the rock as a sign for them and proof against them. Thus, as a result of their sin, their Lord destroyed them. And He sent down torment on all of them equally.
{15} He doesn’t fear the consequences.
God Almighty is a powerful and just God who does what He wants. God Almighty does not fear the consequences when He punishes an oppressor and levels the earth with him. Glory be to Him; to Him is dominion and praise. How great is He, and how great is His authority!
Benefits
- Allah Almighty swears by the sun to alert us to its paramount importance, without which life would not have existed on Earth. So that we do not pass by it while unaware of it, if we realized its importance in life, we would recognize a part of the greatness of its Creator.
- The initiative to do good deeds and purify ourselves from evil and sin to gain the satisfaction of God Almighty in this world and the hereafter.
- All the prophets called for the worship of Allah alone, without partners. The religion is one, Islam (submission to God), but the laws are different.
- Sins cause destruction and corruption. Allah Almighty says, “Corruption has spread throughout the land and sea because of what people’s hands have earned, so He may let them taste some of ‘the consequences of’ some of their deeds so that perhaps they will return ‘to the right path.’” Ar-Rum (The Romans) 30:41
- We pray to God Almighty to make us steadfast in obedience to Him and the truth. You should always ask God for steadfastness in faith, useful knowledge, and good deeds. Allah Almighty says:
When My servants ask you, “O Muḥammad,” concerning Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me; perhaps they will be guided [to the right way].
Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:186
Sources
- quran.com
- quranenc.com/english_saheeh
- thenationalnews.com/yellow, white, or green: what color is the sun?
- Dr. Zaghloul Al Najjar, YouTube Channel.
- The scientific miracle in the Qur’an (By the sun and Duhaha.)
- Interpretation of Surah Al-Shams by Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen.
- quranpedia.net
©Eman Abdallah Kamel, 2024
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