Surah 91 (Ash-Shams) (Y6)

As-salaam wa-alaikum, brothers and sisters.

Summary:

Today’s selection is the entirety of Surah 91, Ash-Shams or the Sun. This Surah asserts that success depends on keeping the soul pure and failure depends on corrupting the soul; case in point, the corrupted people of Thamüd who were leveled to the ground.

Tafseer for this Surah considers the pairs in nature discussed in verses 1-6 and the soul of man in verses 7-10.

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Verses

Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.

By the sun and its brightness;[1] by the moon, as she follows him;[2] by the day, which shows its splendor;[3] by the night, which draws a veil over it;[4] by the heaven and Him Who made it;[5] by the earth and Him Who spread it;[6] by the soul and Him Who perfected it[7] and inspired it with knowledge of what is wrong for it and what is right for it:[8] indeed successful will be the one who keeps it pure,[9] and indeed failure will be the one who corrupts it![10] 91:[1-10]

The people of Thamüd denied the truth because of their arrogant transgression[11] when the most wicked man among them was deputed to kill the she-camel.[12] The Rasool of Allah warned them, saying: “This is Allah’s She-camel do not molest her! Let her drink on her turn.”[13] They disbelieved him and hamstrung her. Therefore, for that crime, their Rabb let loose His scourge upon them and leveled them to the ground.[14] For He (Allah) has no fear of its consequences.[15] 91:[11-15]

Ameen.

Tafseer

Concerning the pairs in nature and the soul of man:

Six types are taken in three pairs, from Allah’s might works in nature, as tokens or evidence of Allahs’s providence and the contrasts in His sublime creation, which yet conduce to cosmic harmony (verses 1-6).

Then (verses 7-8) the soul of man, with internal order and proportion in its capacities and faculties, as made by Allah, is appealed to as having been endowed with the power of discriminating between right and wrong. Then the conclusion is stated in verses 9-10, that man’s success or failure, prosperity or bankruptcy, would depend upon his keeping that soul pure or his corrupting it.

This concludes today’s episode of the 17 Verses Podcast. I hope that this selection has helped increase your understanding of the holy Qur’an just a little bit.

Thank you and be well.