Surah 91. Ash-Shams

CONSIDER the sun and its radiant brightness,

  - Mohammad Asad

By the sun and its brightness;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the sun and his brightness,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and the moon as it reflects the sun!¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "as it follows it (talaha)", i.e., the sun. According to the great philologist Al-Farra', who lived in the second century after the hijrah, "the meaning is that the moon derives its light from the sun" (quoted by Razi). This is also Raghib's interpretation of the above phrase.

by the moon, as she follows him;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the moon when she followeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Consider the day as it reveals the world,²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "it" - a pronoun apparently indicating "the world" or "the earth" (Zamakhshari). It is to be noted that verses {1-10} stress the polarity - both physical and spiritual - inherent in all creation and contrasting with the oneness and uniqueness of the Creator.

by the day, which shows its splendor;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the day when it revealeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and the night as it veils it darkly!

  - Mohammad Asad

by the night, which draws a veil over it;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the night when it enshroudeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Consider the sky and its wondrous make,³

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and that which has built it" - i.e., the wondrous qualities which are responsible for the harmony and coherence of the visible cosmos (which is evidently the meaning of the term sama' in this context). Similarly, the subsequent reference to the earth, which reads literally, "that which has spread it out", is apparently an allusion to the qualities responsible for the beauty and variety of its expanse.

by the heaven and Him Who made it;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the heaven and Him who built it,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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 Him who spread it,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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 a soul and Him who perfected it

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

And inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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 he is indeed a failure who stunteth it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall