Ash-Shams

وَٱلشَّمْسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا ۱

{ والشمس وضحها } ضوئها.

By the sun and her morning light,

وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَىٰهَا ۲

{ والقمر إذا تلها } تبعها طالعا عند غروبها.

and [by] the moon when it follows her, rising after she has set,

وَٱلنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّىٰهَا ۳

{ والنهار إذا جلها } بارتفاعه.

and [by] the day when it reveals her, as it rises [high],

وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰهَا ۴

{ واليل إذا يغشها } يغطيها بظلمته، و(إذا) في الثلاثة لمجرد الظرفية والعامل فيها فعل القسم.

and [by] the night when it enshrouds her, covering her up with its darkness (idhā, ‘when’, in all three instances is an absolute adverbial, operated by the verbal action of the oath).

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا ۵

{ والسمآء وما بنها }.

By the heaven and the One Who built it,

وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا ۶

{ والأرض وما طحها } بسطها.

and [by] the earth and the One Who spread it, laid out flat.

وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا ۷

{ ونفس } بمعنى نفوس { وما سوها } في الخلقة و «ما» في الثلاثة مصدرية أو بمعنى من.

and [by] the soul, that is to say, [by] all souls, and the One Who proportioned it, in its created form (mā in all three instances relates to the verbal action, or functions as man, ‘the one who’),

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا ۸

{ فألهمها فجورها وتقوها } بين لها طريقي الخير والشر، وأخر التقوى رعاية لرؤوس الآي، وجواب القسم:

and inspired to discern its vices and piety, He pointed out to it the path of good and that of evil (the placing of taqwā, ‘piety’, second takes into account the [rhyme] endings of the verses; the response to the oath is [the following:])

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ۹

{ قد أفلح } حذفت منه اللام لطول الكلام { من زكها } طهرها من الذنوب.

Successful indeed (qad: the lām [of laqad, ‘indeed’] has been omitted from it for the sake of brevity) will be the one who purifies it, purges it of sins,

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا ۱۰

{ وقد خاب } خسر { من دسها } أخفاها بالمعصية. وأصله دسسها أبدلت السين الثانية ألفا تخفيفا.

and he will indeed have failed he who eclipses it, he who obscures it with [acts of] disobedience (dassāhā is actually dassasahā, but the second sīn has been replaced with an alif for [phonetic] ease).

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَىٰهَآ ۱۱

{ كذبت ثمود } رسولها صالحا { بطغوها } بسبب طغيانها.

Thamūd denied, their messenger Sālih, because of their rebellious nature,

إِذِ ٱنۢبَعَثَ أَشْقَىٰهَا ۱۲

{ إذ انبعث } أسرع { أشقها } واسمه (قدار) إلى عقر الناقة برضاهم.

when the most wretched of them, whose name was Qudār, was dispatched, [when] he hastened, in order to hamstring the she-camel with their approval.