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Surah 91. Ash-Shams

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91:6
وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا Wa a lar d i wam a t a ha h a
and the earth and all its expanse!
  - Mohammad Asad
by the earth and Him Who spread it;
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
and the earth and 'the One' Who spread it!
  - Mustafa Khattab
And the earth and Him who spread it,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
By the Earth and its (wide) expanse; 6151
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The masdariya in Arabic, in this and the subsequent clauses, is best translated in English by nouns. Thus what would literally be "and the (wonderful) making or construction of it" or "the fact of its (wonderful) construction" is, idiomatically, "its (wonderful) structure." "The (wide) spreading out" of the earth is rendered "its (wide) expanse," and so on.

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91:7
وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا Wanafsin wam a saww a h a
Consider the human self,4 and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be,5
  - Mohammad Asad

As in so many other instances, the term nafs, which has a very wide range of meanings (see first sentence of note [1] on 4:1 ), denotes here the human self or personality as a whole: that is, a being composed of a physical body and that inexplicable life-essence loosely described as "soul".

Lit., "and that which has made [or "formed"] it (sawwaha) in accordance with ...", etc. For this particular connotation of the verb sawwa, see note [1] on 87:2 , which represents the oldest Qur'anic instance of its use in the above sense. The reference to man and that which constitutes the "human personality", as well as the implied allusion to the extremely complex phenomenon of a life-entity in which bodily needs and urges, emotions and intellectual activities are so closely intertwined as to be indissoluble, follows organically upon a call to consider the inexplicable grandeur of the universe - so far as it is perceptible and comprehensible to man - as a compelling evidence of God's creative power.

by the soul and Him Who perfected it
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And by the soul and 'the One' Who fashioned it,
  - Mustafa Khattab
And a soul and Him who perfected it
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
By the Soul and the proportion and order Given to it; 6152
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah makes the soul, and gives it order, proportion, and relative perfection, in order to adapt it for the particular circumstances in which it has to live its life. Cf. xxxii. 9. See also n. 120 to ii. 117. He breathes into it an understanding of what is sin, impiety, wrong-doing and what is piety and right conduct, in the special circumstances in which it may be placed. This is the most precious gift of all to man, the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong. After the six external evidences mentioned in verses 1-6 above, this internal evidence of Allah's goodness is mentioned as the greatest of all. By these various tokens man should learn that his success, his prosperity, his salvation depends on himself,-on his keeping his soul pure as Allah made it; and his failure, his decline, his perdition depends on his soiling his soul by choosing evil.

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91:8
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا Faalhamah a fujoorah a wataqw a h a
and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God!6
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and [consider] that which has inspired it with its immoral doings (fujuraha) and its God-consciousness (taqwaha)" - i.e., the fact that man is equally liable to rise to great spiritual heights as to fall into utter immorality is an essential characteristic of human nature as such. In its deepest sense, man's ability to act wrongly is a concomitant to his ability to act rightly: in other words, it is this inherent polarity of tendencies which gives to every "right" choice a value and, thus, endows man with moral free will (cf. in this connection note [16] on {7:24-25}).

and inspired it with knowledge of what is wrong for it and what is right for it:
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
then with 'the knowledge of' right and wrong inspired it!
  - Mustafa Khattab
And inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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91:9
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا Qad afla h a man zakk a h a
To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes this [self] to grow in purity,
  - Mohammad Asad
indeed successful will be the one who keeps it pure,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul,
  - Mustafa Khattab
He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Truly he succeeds that purifies it
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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91:10
وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا Waqad kh a ba man dass a h a
and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness].
  - Mohammad Asad
and indeed failure will be the one who corrupts it!
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
and doomed is the one who corrupts it!
  - Mustafa Khattab
And he is indeed a failure who stunteth it.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And he fails that corrupts it! 6153
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is the core of the Sura, and it is illustrated by a reference to the story of the Thamud in the following verses.

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91:11
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَىٰهَآ Ka thth abat thamoodu bi t aghw a h a
TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud,7
  - Mohammad Asad

For the story of the tribe of Thamud, given here as an illustration of man's potential wickedness, see {7:73-79} and the corresponding notes.

The people of Thamud denied the truth because of their arrogant transgression
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Thamûd rejected 'the truth' out of arrogance,
  - Mustafa Khattab
(The tribe of) Thamud denied (the truth) in their rebellious pride.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
The Thamud (people) rejected (their prophet) through their inordinate wrong-doing. 6154
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The allusion to the story of the Thamud will be understood by a reference to vii. 73-79; see specially n. 1044. Their prophet was Salih, but he had to deal with an arrogant people, who oppressed the poor and denied them their rights of watering and pasture for their cattle.

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91:12
إِذِ ٱنۢبَعَثَ أَشْقَىٰهَا I th i inbaAAatha ashq a h a
when that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit his evil deed],
  - Mohammad Asad
when the most wicked man among them was deputed to kill the she-camel.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
when the most wicked of them was roused 'to kill the she-camel'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
When the basest of them broke forth
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Behold the most wicked Man among them was deputed (for impiety). 6155
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The prophet Salih was given a certain she-camel as a Sign, a test case, "This she-camel of Allah is Sign unto you: so leave her to graze in Allah's earth and let her come to no harm, or ye shall be seized with a grievous punishment" (vii. 73). But they plotted to kill her and sent the most wicked man among them to dare and do that deed of impiety. It was probably when she came to drink at the stream that she was hamstrung and killed. See xxvi. 155, and liv. 27.

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91:13
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ نَاقَةَ ٱللَّهِ وَسُقْيَـٰهَا Faq a la lahum rasoolu All a hi n a qata All a hi wasuqy a h a
although God's apostle had told them, "It is a she-camel belonging to God, so let her drink [and do her no harm]!"8
  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding this "she-camel belonging to God", see surah {7}, note [57]. For the particular reference to the injunction, "Let her drink", see 26:155 and the corresponding note [67]. The formulation of this passage shows that the legend of the she-camel was well known in pre-Islamic Arabia.

The Rasool of Allah warned them, saying: "This is Allah's She-camel do not molest her! Let her drink on her turn."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But the messenger of Allah warned them, ''Do not disturb' Allah's camel and her 'turn to' drink!'
  - Mustafa Khattab
And the messenger of Allah said: It is the she-camel of Allah, so let her drink!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
But the apostle of Allah said to them: "It is a She-camel of Allah! and (bar her not from) having her drink!" 6156
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

That is, Salih: see last note.

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91:14
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسَوَّىٰهَا Faka thth aboohu faAAaqarooh a fadamdama AAalayhim rabbuhum bi th anbihim fasaww a h a
But they gave him the lie, and cruelly slaughtered her9 - whereupon their Sustainer visited them with utter destruction for this their sin, destroying them all alike:
  - Mohammad Asad

For this rendering of 'aqaruha, see note [61] on 7:77 .

They disbelieved him and hamstrung her. Therefore, for that crime, their Rabb let loose His scourge upon them and leveled them to the ground.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Still they defied him and slaughtered her. So their Lord crushed them for their crime, levelling all to the ground.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 It is true that while Qudâr ibn Sâlif was the individual who killed the camel, the rest of the people were supportive of what he did, so they were all punished collectively.

But they denied him, and they hamstrung her, so Allah doomed them for their sin and razed (their dwellings).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
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)! 6157
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The man who was deputed to do the impious deed of hamstringing the she-camel had of course the sympathy and cooperation of the whole people. Only he was more daring than the rest.

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91:15
وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَـٰهَا Wal a yakh a fu AAuqb a h a
for none [of them] had any fear of what might befall them.10
  - Mohammad Asad

Implying that their total lack of compassion for God's creatures showed that they did not fear His retribution and, hence, did not really believe in Him.

For He (Allah) has no fear of its consequences.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
He has no fear of consequences.
  - Mustafa Khattab
He dreadeth not the sequel (of events).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
And for Him is no fear of its consequences. 6158
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This verse has been variously construed. I follow the general opinion in referring the pronoun "Him" to "their Lord" in the last verse and the pronoun "its" to the Punishment that was meted out to all, high and low, equally. In that case the meaning would be: God decreed the total destruction of the Thamud; in the case of creatures any such destruction might cause a loss to them, and they might fear the consequences of such loss or destruction, but Allah has created and can create at will, and there can be no question of any such apprehension in His case. An alternative view is that "him" refers to the prophet Salih, mentioned in verse 13. Then the interpretation would be: Salih had no fear of the consequences for himself; he had warned the wicked according to his commission; he was saved by Allah's mercy as a just and righteous man, and he left them with regrets (vii. 79). Yet another alternative refers "him" to the wicked man (mentioned in verse 12) who hamstrung the she-camel: he feared not the consequences of his deed.

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