Surah 91: Ash-Shams
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
[a] See 1:1.
By the sun and his growing brightness,[4737]
[4737] Important Words:
واو is a particle of swearing, meaning 'by' or 'I swear' or 'I cite as witness or call to witness' (Lane & Aqrab). See also 37:2.
الشمس (the sun), is a substantive noun from شمس (shamasa). They say شمس الرجل i.e. the man abstained from and refused to obey because he considered himself too big to give allegiance to anyone. شمس الفرس means, the horse refused to be ridden or became rebellious against its rider and ran away refusing to be ridden by reason of the vehemence of its force of resistance. شمس لی فلان means, such a one showed enmity to me (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
God’s swearing by His creatures is a method adopted by the Holy Qur’an. The oaths in the Holy Qur’an have deep meaning underlying them. In ordinary transactions when a person takes an oath, his object is to supply the deficiency of insufficient testimony. The object and meaning of God’s oaths must, however, be distinguished from those of the oaths of mortals. Divine laws reveal two aspects of the works of God, viz. the obvious and the inferential. The former are easily comprehensible; in the comprehension of the latter there is room for error. In the taking of oaths God has called attention to what may be inferred from what is obvious.
Taking the oaths mentioned in the following verses, we see that the sun and the moon, the day and the night, heavens and earth belong to the "obvious;" their properties as referred to in these verses are universally known and acknowledged. But the same properties found in man’s soul are not obvious. To lead to an inference of the existence of these properties in the soul of man God has called to witness His obvious works.
"The sun" in the verse may refer to the sun of the spiritual universe—the Holy Prophet—who is the source of all light and who will continue to enlighten the world till the end of time. For a detailed note on this and the following five verses see v. 7.
And by the moon when she follows him (the sun),[4738]
[4738] Important Words:
القمر (the moon). They say قمر الشیء i.e. the brightness of the thing became intense. قمر means, the moon; a star which borrows its light from the sun and reflects it on to the earth and thus removes the darkness of the night. (Lane & Aqrab). See also 54:2.
تلاھا (follows him). تلوته means, I followed him or it immediately or without intervention. ھو یتلو فلاناً means, he imitates such a one and follows what he does (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:103.
Commentary:
"The moon" may be taken as referring to the Holy Prophet, who like the moon, draws his light from God and transmits it to the spiritually dark world. Or it may refer to those religious divines and Reformers—particularly the Promised Messiah—who borrow the light of truth from the Holy Prophet and transmit it to the world to remove the darkness of moral and spiritual turpitude.
And by the day when it reveals his glory,[4739]
[4739] Commentary:
"The day" may signify the time during which the Message of Islam and the truth of its Founder was further fortified and foundations were laid for the universal propagation of the vital doctrines of the new Faith. The reference in the verse may particularly be to the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—the first four Successors of the Holy Prophet. In their time the light of Islam revealed its glory and splendour to the world.
And by the night when it draws a veil over him.[4740]
[4740] Commentary:
"The night" may refer to the period of decline and decadence of Muslims when the light of Islam had become veiled from the eyes of the world. These four verses (2-5) refer to four periods in the eventful career of Islam, viz. (1) the time of the Holy Prophet himself when the spiritual sun (the Holy Prophet) was shining in full splendour in the spiritual heaven; (2) the time of the Promised Messiah when the light derived from the Holy Prophet was being reflected on to a dark world; (3) the time of the Holy Prophet’s immediate Successors when the light of Islam was still shining and, (4) the period when spiritual darkness had spread over the world after the first three centuries of Islam which was its most glorious period.
And by the heaven and its make,[4741]
[4741] Commentary:
The particle ما (ma) in this and the next two verses is either مصدریة (masdariyyah) as in the text, or it stands for من meaning, 'He Who.' Thus in these verses attention has been focused on the great Designer and Architect of the universe, and on the perfection and complete freedom from flaw or defect in the design and creation of man and the universe.
And by the earth and its expanse,
And by the soul and its perfection—[4742]
[4742] Commentary:
The verse means that all the properties and forces which the great heavenly bodies such as the sun and the moon, etc. devote to the service of God’s creatures and to which reference has been made in the following verses bear witness to man having been endowed with similar qualities in a high degree. In fact, man is a universe in miniature and in his soul is represented, on a small scale, all that exists in the external universe. Like the sun he sheds his lustre over the world and enlightens it with the light of wisdom and knowledge. Like the moon he transmits to those who are in the dark the light of vision, inspiration and revelation which he borrows from the Great Original Source. He is bright like the day, and shows the ways of truth and virtue. Like the night he draws the veil over the faults and misdeeds of others, lightens their burdens and gives rest to the tired and the weary. Like the heavens he takes every distressed soul under his shelter and revives the lifeless earth, with salubrious rain. Like the earth he submits in all humility and lowliness to be trampled under the feet by others as a trial for them, and from his purified soul various sorts of trees of knowledge and truth grow up in abundance, and with their shade, flowers and fruits, he spiritually regales the world. Such are the great divines and Heavenly Reformers, of whom the greatest and the most perfect was the Holy Prophet.
And He revealed to it the ways of evil and the ways of righteousness—[4743]
[4743] Commentary:
The verse means that after creating the celestial and the terrestrial systems, and bringing into existence man—the acme and apex of the whole creation—and endowing him with great natural potentialities and qualities, God did not leave him alone. He implanted in his nature a feeling or sense of what is good or bad. Or the verse may mean that God reveals to man that he could achieve spiritual perfection by eschewing what is bad and wrong and adopting what is right and good because it is through Divine revelation that man could achieve it.
He indeed truly prospers who purifies it,[4744]
[4744] Important Words:
زکا (purifies) is transitive from زکا (zaka) which means, it increased or augmented. زکا الزرع means, the harvest grew and increased. زکا الغلام means, the boy grew up. العلم یزکو علی الانفاق means, knowledge increases by expending (Lane & Aqrab).
And he who corrupts it is ruined.[4745]
[4745] Important Words:
دسا (corrupts). دساه means, he hid it; he buried it; he corrupted it. من دساھا means, who corrupts it; makes it vile by evil works; who makes it obscure or stunts its growth (Lane & Aqrab).
The tribe of Thamud rejected the Divine Messenger because of their rebelliousness.[4746]
[4746] Commentary:
In this and the next four verses is cited the example of the tribe of Thamud who defied Divine guidance and opposed their Prophet working out thereby their own ruin.