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 its brightness,

  - Mustafa Khattab

By the sun and his brightness,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Sun and his (glorious) splendor; ⁶¹⁴⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Six types are taken in three pairs, from Allah's mighty works in nature, as tokens or evidence of Allah'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.

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 as it follows it,¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Or “… when it reflects the sun’s light.”

And the moon when she followeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Moon as she follow him; ⁶¹⁴⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The first pair is the glorious sun, the source of our light and physical life, and the moon which follows or acts as second to the sun for illuminating our world. The moon, when she is in the sky with the sun, is pale and inconspicuous; in the sun's absence she shines with reflected light and may metaphorically be called the sun's vicegerent. So with Revelation and the great Prophets who brought it; and the minor Teachers who derive their light reflected, or perhaps doubly reflected, from the original source.

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 as it unveils it,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the day when it revealeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Day as it shows up (the Sun's) glory; ⁶¹⁴⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The next contrasted pair consists, not of luminaries, but conditions, or periods of time, Day and Night. The Day reveals the sun's glory and the Night conceals it from our sight. So there may be contrasts in our subjective reception of divine light, but it is there, working all the time, and must reappear in its own good time.

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 as it conceals it!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the night when it enshroudeth him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Night as it conceals it;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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 by heaven and 'the One' Who built it,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the heaven and Him who built it,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure; ⁶¹⁵⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The next contrasted pair is the wonderful firmament on high, and the earth below our feet, stretching away to our wide horizons. The sky gives us rain, and the earth gives us food. Yet both work together; for the rain is moisture sucked up from the earth, and the food cannot grow without the heat and warmth of the sun. There are many other contrasts under this head; yet they all point to unity.