Ash-Shams 91
The SunHow to read the Hangul
الرَّحْمَٰنِ르r라흐마니 بِسْمِ비스밀
- Bold = the stressed syllable of the word; a little stronger.
- Overline = long vowel (madd): hold it about two beats. Length matters most in recitation.
- Tiny = no vowel in the Arabic here — just the consonant, short.
- Small Latin letter = a sound Korean lacks, on the next syllable: f upper teeth on lower lip · θ/ð tongue tip between the teeth · r rolled tongue tip (a bare ㄹ is l).
How to read the Hangul
beginning the Christ salvation
- Bold, larger (ˈ) = say it strong and a little longer — the stressed syllable.
- Faint = weak and short (a reduced vowel). Don't give every syllable equal weight.
- Tiny 으 · 트 · 스 = barely voiced. English has no vowel there — stop on the consonant.
- Whole word faint (the, of, and, to…) = light and quick in a sentence; stress the content words.
- Small f v θ ð r = sounds Korean doesn't have — f: upper teeth on the lower lip; v: the same, voiced; θ/ð: tongue tip between the teeth; r: tongue curled back, touching nothing.
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Surah
About this surah
Classed as a Meccan sura, it opens with a long series of oaths: by the sun and its morning brightness, the moon that follows it, the day that displays it and the night that covers it, the sky and its Builder, the earth and the One who spread it, and the soul and the One who proportioned it. The point of these oaths follows: God inspired each soul with awareness of its wickedness and of its mindfulness of Him, so whoever purifies the soul succeeds and whoever corrupts it fails. The sura then gives the people of Thamud as an example. A messenger of God warned them to leave alone the she-camel of God and her turn to drink, but they called him a liar and hamstrung the camel. Their Lord destroyed them for their sin and levelled them, without fearing what would follow.
- Oaths by creation
- Purifying the soul
- Wickedness and mindfulness
- Thamud and the she-camel
The name It is named after 'the sun' (ash-Shams), the first oath in verse 1.
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1
By the sun and its morning brightness,
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2
and the moon when it follows it,
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3
and the day when it displays it,
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4
and the night when it covers it,
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5
and the sky and He who built it,
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6
and the earth and He who spread it,
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7
and the soul and He who proportioned it,
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8
and inspired it [to know] its wickedness and its mindfulness of God!
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9
He has succeeded who purifies it,
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10
and he has failed who corrupts it.
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11
Thamud denied [the truth] in their transgression,
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12
when the most wretched of them rose up.
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13
The messenger of God said to them, "[Leave alone] the she-camel of God and her drink."
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14
But they denied him and hamstrung her. So their Lord brought destruction upon them for their sin and levelled them.
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15
And He does not fear the consequence of it.