91.

Sura Shams (or The Sun)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The Sura opens with a series of oaths by Allah’s mighty works in

nature, as evidence of Lord’s might and splender. The Sun, the Moon, the
Night the Day the Sky and the Earth are all the contrasts in His sublime
creation yet conducive to cosmic harmony and balance.

Then 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 of the series of oaths is stated that man success or failure,
prosperity or bankruptcy, would depend upon his keeping the soul pure or his
corrupting it.

This is the core of the Sura and it concludes with the example of the
ancient tribe of Thamud. This tribe chose error instead of guidance. Allah
destroyed them utterly for their rejection of His commands. The story of
Thamud is referred to for the information and guidance of the Meccan infidels.