English Al-Mukhtasar — Ash-Shams 91:1 – An-Nas 114:6

Allah takes an oath on the sun and its rising after breaking onto the eastern horizon.

He also takes an oath on the moon when it follows the sun after it has set.

Allah also takes an oath on the day when it reveals whatever is on the face of the earth through its light.

And He also takes an oath on the night when it covers the face of the earth, darkening it.

And He takes an oath on the sky, taking an oath on its perfect creation.

He also takes an oath on the earth: the way it has been spread so that people can live on it.

He also takes an oath on each soul, with Allah having created it equally.

Then He made it understand - without teaching it - what was evil so it could be abstained from, and what was good so it could be implemented.

Verily, the one who has purified his soul by adorning it with virtuous characteristics and freeing it from evil traits, has succeeded.

And verily the one who has secretly thrust his soul into sins and disobedience, has lost.

After Allah mentions the loss of the one who thrust his soul secretly into sins, He mentions the Thamūd as an example of that, saying: The Thamūd rejected their Prophet Saleh due to their transgressing the limits in committing sins and disobedience.

When the most wretched among them stood up after his people has appointed him for the task.

The Messenger of Allah Saleh (peace be upon him) said to them: “Leave the camel of Allah alone; let it drink on its day and do not pursue it intending evil.”

But they rejected their Messenger with regards to the camel, and so the most wretched among them killed it with the consent of his people. Therefore, they were all guilty of the crime and so Allah enveloped them into His punishment and destroyed them by a shriek due to their sins. He made them equal in the punishment that He destroyed them with.

Allah set the punishment that destroyed them, upon them, without Him, may He be glorified, fearing any reproach over His actions.

Allah takes an oath on the night when it covers whatever is between the heavens and the earth with its darkness.

And Allah takes an oath on the day when it becomes clear and visible.

And He takes an oath on His creating the two genders: The male and female.

O people! Your actions are different: some are good, which are the causes of entering Paradise, while others are evil, which are the causes of entering the hellfire.

As for the one who gives whatever is necessary for him to spend, i.e. Zakat, financial support and repatriation, and is mindful of that which Allah has prohibited him from.

And he believes in the substitute Allah has promised him.

I shall soon make performing good deeds and spending in My path easy for him.

And as for the one who is miserly with his wealth and does not spend it in the avenues necessary for him to spend in, thinking himself to be in no need of Allah and not asking Allah for any of His grace.

Whilst rejecting the substitute and reward Allah has promised him if he spends his wealth in His path.

I will soon make performing evil deeds easy for him, and make difficult doing good.

His wealth that he is miserly with will not benefit him at all when he dies and enters the hellfire.

Indeed, it is My responsibility to make the path of truth clear from the path of falsehood.

And indeed, the afterlife and the worldly life belongs to Me; I do whatever I want with it. That is not the case with anyone else.

So O people! If you disobey Me, I warn you of the hellfire which is being kindled.

None will suffer the heat of this fire except the most wretched, i.e. the disbeliever.

The one who rejected whatever the Messenger (peace be upon him) brought, and turned away from fulfilling the command of Allah.

The most Allah-conscious of the people will be distanced from it, i.e. Abu Bakr.

The one who spends his wealth in righteous avenues, to purify himself of sins.

He does not spend whatever wealth he spends, to repay any favour done to him by anyone.

Through his spending, he only intends the pleasure of his Lord who is High above His creation.

And indeed, soon, he will be pleased with the generous reward Allah will grant him.

Allah takes an oath on the beginning of the day.

And He takes an oath on the night when it darkens and people cease to move in it.

O Messenger! Your Lord has not left you, nor has he begun to hate you, as the idolaters claimed when there was a break in the revelation.

Indeed, the abode of the afterlife is better for you than the worldly one, because of the everlasting bounties that it has.

Very soon He will grant you an abundant reward, and your nation also, until you become content with what He has granted you and your nation.

Verily, He found you at a time when you were a child whose father had passed away, and so He made a place of refuge for you by causing your grandfather Abdul Muttalib to become fond of you, and then your uncle Abu Talib.

He found you in a state where you did not know what revelation or faith was, and so He taught you about that which you did not know.

And He found you poor, so He made you self-sufficient.

Therefore, do not treat badly the one who has lost his father in childhood, nor look down upon him.

And do not rebuke the needy beggar.

And be grateful for the favours of Allah upon you, and talk about them.

Verily, Allah has opened up your heart for you and made receiving revelation beloved to you.

And I have removed sin from you.

That which was burdening you to the extent that it almost broke your back.

And I elevated for you your mention, so you are now remembered in the call to prayer, and the call preceding the prayer, and at other times.

Indeed, with difficulty and constraint, comes ease and options.

Indeed, with difficulty and constraint, comes ease and options; when you know that well, the troubling of your people will not terrify you and will not stop you from calling towards Allah.

So when you finish your work and complete it, strive in the worship of your Lord.

And divert your passion and resolve towards Allah alone.

Allah takes an oath on the fig and the place it grows, and the olive and the place it grows: the land of Palestine where Jesus (peace be upon him) was sent as a Messenger.

And He takes an oath on Mount Sinai, near where Allah conversed intimately with Moses (peace be upon him).

And He takes an oath on Makkah, the sacred city which gives sanctuary to whoever enters it, and in which Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a Messenger.

Verily, I have created the human in the most balanced of ways and the best appearance.

Then I return him to old age and childishness in the world, so he cannot benefit fully from his body, when he ruins his nature and goes towards the hellfire.

Except for those who have faith in Allah and do good deeds, because they, despite growing old, will get an everlasting reward i.e. Paradise, because they kept their nature pure.

So O human! What causes you to reject the Day of Requital, after you have seen the many signs of His power?

Is Allah not the most just and fair of judges by having appointed the Day of Judgement for requital? Is it comprehendible that Allah leaves His servants in vain, without judging between them, by not requiting the doer of good for his good, and the evil-doer for his evil?

O Messenger! Read what Allah reveals to you, starting with the name of your Lord who created the creation.

He created the human from a clot of congealed blood, after it had been a drop of semen.

O Messenger! Read what Allah reveals to you. Your Lord is the most Kind; no kind person can come to His kindness, because He has abundant generosity and goodness.

The one who taught to write, and the revelation, through the pen.

He taught the human that which he did not know.

Truly, indeed, the transgressing human i.e. Abu Jahl, has crossed the limit in overstepping the limits of Allah.

Just because he has seen him showing no need of the prestige and wealth he possesses.

O human! Indeed, to your Lord is the return on the Day of Judgement, where He will requite each person with what he deserves.

Have you seen anything more shocking than the matter of Abu Jahl, who prevented.

He prevented My servant Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he performed prayer near the Ka‘bah.

What do you think will happen, if this person who has been prevented, is following guidance and foresight from his Lord?

Or that he instructs the people to be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His commands and refrain from the things he has not allowed; can such a person be prevented?

What do you think will happen if this preventer rejected whatever the Messenger brought and turned away from it? Does he not fear Allah?

Does the preventer of this servant from prayer not know that Allah sees whatever he does, and that nothing is hidden from Him?

It is not as this ignorant person imagines; if he does not stop causing harm to My servant and rejecting him, I will definitely seize him and drag him violently by the top of his head, towards the hellfire.

The owner of that forehead is a liar in speech and erroneous in action.

So when he is seized by his forehead towards the hellfire, let him call out to his companions and associates asking for their help to save him from the punishment.

I will call upon the gatekeepers of hell: the fierce angels who do not disobey My command when I command them, and do whatever they are commanded to do. It will then be seen which of the two parties are stronger and more capable.

It is not as this oppressor thinks: that he can cause any harm to you. So do not follow him in command or prohibition; rather, prostrate to Allah and draw closer to Him through acts of obedience, because that is how you can draw closer to Him.

Indeed, I revealed the Qur’ān at once to the heaven nearest to the world, just as I started off revealing it to Muhammad (peace be upon him), on the Night of Decree in the month of Ramadan.

O Prophet! Do you know what goodness and blessings lie in this night?

This night is a night of great goodness; it is better than a thousand months for the one who stands in prayer during it, whilst having faith and hoping for reward.

The angels and Gabriel (peace be upon him) descend during it with the permission of their Lord (may He be glorified), bringing every matter Allah has decreed to happen that year, whether it be sustenance, deaths, births or anything else He has decreed.

This whole blessed night contains goodness, right from its beginning until its end, with the breaking of dawn.

Those who disbelieved, from the Jews, the Christians and the idolaters, are not going to break their consensus and agreement on disbelief, until a clear proof and manifest evidence comes to them.

This clear proof and manifest evidence is a Messenger from Allah whom He has sent, and who recites pure scriptures, only the purest of beings may touch them.

In those scriptures is true information and fair rulings, which guide the people towards that in which lies their righteousness and decency.

The Jews who were given the Torah and the Christians who were given the Gospel, did not disagree except after Allah sent His Prophet to them. There were some who became Muslims, and others who persisted in their disbelief despite knowing of the truth of their Prophet.

The criminality and stubbornness of the Jews and the Christians is evident, in that they have not been commanded in this Qur’ān, except to do those very things they have been commanded to do in both their books, i.e. worshipping Allah alone, refraining from ascribing partners to Him, establishing prayer and giving in Zakat. So whatever they have been commanded to do, is actually the straight religion in which there is no deviance.

Indeed, those who disbelieved - from the Jews, the Christians and the idolaters - will enter into hell on the Day of Judgement, wherein they shall remain forever. They are the worst of the creation because of their disbelief in Allah and rejection of His Messenger.

Indeed, those who have faith in Allah and do good deeds, they are the ones who are the best of creation.

Their reward with their Lord (may He be glorified) is gardens under the trees and palaces of which rivers flow, and wherein they shall remain forever. Allah is pleased with them because of them bringing faith in Him and obeying Him, and they are also pleased with Him because of Him giving them His mercy. This mercy can be acquired by the one who fears his Lord, and so fulfils His command and refrains from the thing He has not allowed.

When the earth will be shaken vigorously, which will happen to it on the Day of Judgement.

And the earth will remove everything from within itself, i.e. the dead and other things.

And the human will say, confused: “What is the matter with the earth, that it is moving and shaking?”

On that great day, the earth will inform regarding the good and evil deeds that were committed upon it.

Because Allah will have taught it and commanded it to do so.

On that great day on which the earth will quake, the humans will come to of the place of reckoning in groups, to see the deeds they committed in the world.

So whoever did a good or righteous deed equal to the weight of a small ant, will see it in front of him.

And whoever did an evil deed equal to that, will see that in front of him also.

Allah takes an oath on the horses that run so hard that their breath can be heard.

And He also takes an oath on the horses who, when their shoes strike the stones with force, sparks fly.

And He also takes an oath on the horses that raid the enemy at dawn.

And unsettle the dust by their running.

They then take their riders collectively into the midst of the enemy.

Indeed, the human is hesitant of the goodness his Lord intends from him.

And indeed, he is witness to the goodness he is hesitant in giving; he cannot deny it because of its clarity.

And indeed, he is miserly with his wealth due to his extreme love for it.

Does this human, deceived by the worldly life, not know that when Allah will resurrect the dead from their graves and take them out of the earth to take them to account and requite them, that the matter will not be as he imagines?

And the intentions, beliefs etc. within the hearts will be made clear and apparent.

Indeed, their Lord will be aware of every matter of theirs on that day; none of the affairs of His servants will be hidden from Him, and He will requite them for that.

The hour that strikes the hearts of people because of the severity of its horrors.

What is this hour that strikes the hearts of people because of the severity of its horrors?

O Messenger! And what do you know of this hour that strikes the hearts of people because of the severity of its horrors? It is the Day of Judgement.

On the day when the hearts of people will be struck, they will be like locusts, dispersed here and there.

And the mountains will be like carded wool, in the way they will move from their places with force.

As for the one whose good deeds will outweigh his evil deeds.

He will live a contented life which he will achieve in Paradise.

And as for the one whose evil deeds outweigh his good deeds.

His abode and permanent resting place will be hell on the Day of Judgement.

O Messenger! What do you know what that is?

It is the intensely hot hellfire.

O people! Boasting with one another over wealth and offspring has preoccupied you from the obedience of Allah.

Until you die and enter your graves.

It is not befitting that boasting with one another over that preoccupies you from the obedience of Allah; you will soon know the consequence of that preoccupation.

You will surely realise its outcome.

Truly, if you were to know with certainty that you are to be resurrected to Allah, and that He will requite you for your actions, you would not become preoccupied with boasting with one another over wealth and offspring.

By Allah! You will definitely witness the hellfire on the Day of Judgement.

Then, you will definitely see it in a way you will become undoubtedly convinced.

Then Allah will surely ask you on that day regarding the health, wealth etc. that He favoured you with.

Allah may He be glorified takes an oath on time.

Indeed, the human is in great loss and destruction.

Except for those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger, perform good deeds, and encourage each other to follow the truth and remain steadfast upon it. Those who have these qualities are the ones who are successful in the world and the afterlife.

Evil consequences and a severe punishment awaits the one who frequently backbites the people and taunts them.

The one whose only concern is to amass wealth and count it; he has no other concern.

He thinks that the wealth of his he amasses will save him from death, and that he will remain forever in this worldly life.

It is not as this ignorant one thinks; he will surely be thrown into the fire of hell that crushes and breaks everything that is thrown into it, due to its immense strength.

O Messenger! What do you know of this fire that smashes everything that is thrown into it?

Indeed, it is the blazing fire of Allah.

The fire that penetrates the bodies of the people until it reaches their hearts.

Indeed, it will close up around those that will be punished with it.

For a prolonged, lengthy period of time, so long that they will never leave it.

O Messenger! Do you not know how your Lord dealt with Abraha and his people: the people of the elephant, when they intended to demolish the Ka‘bah?

Allah made their evil plot to destroy it in vain; they did not achieve what they desired in trying to turn the people away from the Ka‘bah. They did not succeed in the slightest.

Allah sent birds upon them, who came to them in flocks upon flocks.

They pelted them with stones of clay.

So Allah made them like the leaves of crops that have been eaten and trampled upon by livestock.

Because of the habit of the Quraysh and their acquaintance.

With travelling in the winter towards Yemen, and in the summer towards the Levant, in security.

They should worship Allah alone, who is the Lord of this sacred house. He is the one who has made these journeys easy for them. They should not ascribe any partners to Him.

The one who has fed them from hunger, and given them security from fear by placing reverence of the Ḥaram and its inhabitants in their hearts.

Do you recognise the one who rejects the requital on the Day of Judgement?

It is the one who harshly turns away the orphan when in need.

He does not encourage himself nor others in feeding the poor.

So destruction and punishment be upon those who perform prayer.

Those who are heedless of their prayer; they do not care about it such that its time expires.

Those who show off by their prayer and good deeds, not being sincere in doing deeds for Allah.

And they refrain from helping others with things in which there is no difficulty helping in.

O Messenger! Indeed, I have granted you abundant goodness, from which is the river of Kawthar in Paradise.

So be grateful to Allah for this blessing, by performing prayer for Him alone and offering sacrifice for Him, as opposed to the offerings of sacrifice the idolaters do for their idols.

Indeed, your hater is cut off from every goodness, and will be forgotten. If remembered, he will be remembered negatively.

Say, O Messenger: O those who disbelieve in Allah!

I do not and will not worship the idols you worship.

Nor are you going to worship what I worship, i.e. Allah alone.

Nor am I going to worship the idols you worship.

Nor are you going to worship what I worship, i.e. Allah alone.

You have your religion you thought up for yourselves, and I have my religion that Allah revealed to me.

O Messenger! When the help of Allah arrives for your religion, He honours it, and Makkah is liberated.

And you see the people entering into Islam in delegations upon delegations.

Then know that is a sign of the nearing of the end of your duty you were sent to fulfil. So glorify your Lord together with praising Him, to show gratitude to Him for the favours of help and victory, and seek His forgiveness, because indeed, He is the Forgiving, who accepts the repentance of His servants and forgives them.

Both hands of the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him): Abū Lahab son of ‘Abdul Muṭṭalib have lost because of the loss of his actions; he used to harm the Prophet (peace be upon him). His efforts are in vain.

How much can his wealth and his children benefit him? They cannot defend him against the punishment, nor bring any mercy to him.

On the Day of Judgement, he will soon enter the flaring hellfire and suffer its heat.

And his wife Umm Jamīl who would also harm the Prophet (peace be upon him) by throwing thorns into his path, will also enter it.

Around her neck will be tightly bound a rope with which she will be dragged into the hellfire.

Say, O Messenger: He is Allah who is alone in being a deity. There is no deity except Him.

He is the master to whom belongs all sovereignty and perfect, beautiful qualities. The one to whom all creation turn to.

The one who did not give birth to anyone, nor did anyone give birth to Him. So He has no offspring - may He be glorified - nor any parent.

Nor does He have any equal from His creation.

Say, O Messenger: “I seek refuge in the Lord of the morning and I seek His protection.”

“From the evils of the harms of all creation.”

“And I seek refuge in Allah from the evils that appear in the night, i.e. harmful creatures and bandits.”

“And I seek His refuge from the evils of the sorceresses who blow onto knots.”

“And I seek His refuge from the evil of the jealous one when he acts out his jealousy.”

Say, O Messenger: “I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind and seek His protection.”

“The King of the people, who does whatever He wishes with them. They do not have any real king other than Him.”

“He is their rightful deity; they do not have any rightful deity except Him.”

“From the evils of Satan who whispers to the human when he is neglectful of the remembrance of Allah, or delays in it when he remembers.”

“He whispers to the hearts of people.”

“And he could be from the humankind or from the Jinn.”