Shams, in arabic, means ‘Sun’. In this surah, Allah SWT, among other certainties, swears upon the sun, since the sun is a certainty as well. The final ayats of the surah talk about the destruction of the nation of Samood. Hazrat Saaleh AS was sent down by Allah SWT to the people of Samood with the message of Islam, and the people of Samood asked Hazrat Saleh AS to produce a sign that Allah SWT was omnipresent. Hazrat Saleh AS requested the same to Allah SWT, and Allah SWT created a she-camel out of a stone, and in return, asked of the people of Samood not to hurt that camel, nor to forbid her from drinking water. The local bigwigs, in denial of Allahs SWT orders and Hazrat Salehs AS message, killed the camel. That was followed by a huge earthquake which wiped out the entire nation of samood.
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By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour;
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By the Moon as she follows him;
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By the Day as it shows up (the Sun’s) glory;
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By the Night as it conceals it;
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By the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure;
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By the Earth and its (wide) expanse:
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By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it;
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And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;-
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Truly he succeeds that purifies it,
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And he fails that corrupts it!
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The Thamud (people) rejected (their prophet) through their inordinate wrong-doing,
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Behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed (for impiety).
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But the Messenger of Allah said to them: “It is a She-camel of Allah. And (bar her not from) having her drink!”
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Then they rejected him (as a false prophet), and they hamstrung her. So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal (in destruction, high and low)!
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And for Him is no fear of its consequences.