The surah that opens with the oath of the Divine One swearing by The Dawn, and other natural occurrences and sacred designations, as a means of categorical airmation to mankind that God shall, indeed, hold all people accountable. It is names after “the dawn” (al-fajr) mentioned in verse 1. A surah in which God emphasizes that the tyrants of the Prophet’s time will be like those He dealt with in the past. The surah compares the destiny of the ungrateful with that of the souls at peace.The surah is also known as: The Daybreak.
1
وَالفَجرِ
wa-l-fajri
By the Dawn,1Interpreted as the month of Muḥarram, which marks the beginning of the year. (Ṭabarī, Taʾrīkh, ii, 390, from Ibn ʿAbbās)
2
وَلَيالٍ عَشرٍ
wa-layālin ʿashrin
by the ten nights,
3
وَالشَّفعِ وَالوَترِ
wa-sh-shafʿi wa-l-watri
by the Even and the Odd,
4
وَاللَّيلِ إِذا يَسرِ
wa-l-layli ʾidhā yasri
by the night when it departs!
5
هَل في ذٰلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِذي حِجرٍ
hal fī dhālika qasamun li-dhī ḥijrin
Is there an oath in that for one possessing intellect?
6
أَلَم تَرَ كَيفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعادٍ
ʾa-lam tara kayfa faʿala rabbuka bi-ʿādin
Have you not regardedhow your Lord dealt with [the people of] ʿĀd,
7
إِرَمَ ذاتِ العِمادِ
ʾirama dhāti l-ʿimādi
[and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars,
8
الَّتي لَم يُخلَق مِثلُها فِي البِلادِ
allatī lam yukhlaq mithluhā fī l-bilādi
the like of which was not created among cities,
9
وَثَمودَ الَّذينَ جابُوا الصَّخرَ بِالوادِ
wa-thamūda lladhīna jābū ṣ-ṣakhra bi-l-wādi
and [the people of] Thamūd,who hollowed out the rocks in the valley,
10
وَفِرعَونَ ذِي الأَوتادِ
wa-firʿawna dhī l-ʾawtādi
and Pharaoh, the impaler,1See the note at 38:12.
11
الَّذينَ طَغَوا فِي البِلادِ
alladhīna ṭaghaw fī l-bilādi
—those who rebelled [against Allah] in their cities
12
فَأَكثَروا فيهَا الفَسادَ
fa-ʾaktharū fīhā l-fasāda
and caused much corruption in them,
13
فَصَبَّ عَلَيهِم رَبُّكَ سَوطَ عَذابٍ
fa-ṣabba ʿalayhim rabbuka sawṭa ʿadhābin
so your Lord poured on themlashes of punishment.
14
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالمِرصادِ
ʾinna rabbaka la-bi-l-mirṣādi
Indeed your Lord is in ambush.
15
فَأَمَّا الإِنسانُ إِذا مَا ابتَلاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقولُ رَبّي أَكرَمَنِ
fa-ʾammā l-ʾinsānu ʾidhā mā btalāhu rabbuhū fa-ʾakramahū wa-naʿʿamahū fa-yaqūlu rabbī ʾakramani
As for man, whenever his Lord tests himand grants him honour and blesses him,he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me.’
16
وَأَمّا إِذا مَا ابتَلاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيهِ رِزقَهُ فَيَقولُ رَبّي أَهانَنِ
wa-ʾammā ʾidhā mā btalāhu fa-qadara ʿalayhi rizqahū fa-yaqūlu rabbī ʾahānani
But when He tests himand tightens for him his provision,he says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me.’
17
كَلّا ۖ بَل لا تُكرِمونَ اليَتيمَ
kallā bal lā tukrimūna l-yatīma
No indeed!Rather you do not honour the orphan,
18
وَلا تَحاضّونَ عَلىٰ طَعامِ المِسكينِ
wa-lā taḥāḍḍūna ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-miskīni
and do not urge the feeding of the needy,
19
وَتَأكُلونَ التُّراثَ أَكلًا لَمًّا
wa-taʾkulūna t-turātha ʾaklan lamman
and you eat the inheritance rapaciously,
20
وَتُحِبّونَ المالَ حُبًّا جَمًّا
wa-tuḥibbūna l-māla ḥubban jamman
and you love wealth with much fondness.
21
كَلّا إِذا دُكَّتِ الأَرضُ دَكًّا دَكًّا
kallā ʾidhā dukkati l-ʾarḍu dakkan dakkan
No indeed!When the earth is levelled1 to a plain,Or ‘crumbled into fragments.’
22
وَجاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا
wa-jāʾa rabbuka wa-l-malaku ṣaffan ṣaffan
and your Lord and the angels arrive in ranks,
23
وَجِيءَ يَومَئِذٍ بِجَهَنَّمَ ۚ يَومَئِذٍ يَتَذَكَّرُ الإِنسانُ وَأَنّىٰ لَهُ الذِّكرىٰ
wa-jīʾa yawmaʾidhin bi-jahannama yawmaʾidhin yatadhakkaru l-ʾinsānu wa-ʾannā lahu dh-dhikrā
the day when hell is brought [near],on that day man will take admonitionbut what will the admonition avail him?
24
يَقولُ يا لَيتَني قَدَّمتُ لِحَياتي
yaqūlu yā-laytanī qaddamtu li-ḥayātī
He will say, ‘Alas, had I sent ahead for my life!’
25
فَيَومَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذابَهُ أَحَدٌ
fa-yawmaʾidhin lā yuʿadhdhibu ʿadhābahū ʾaḥadun
On that day none shall punish as He punishes,
26
وَلا يوثِقُ وَثاقَهُ أَحَدٌ
wa-lā yūthiqu wathāqahū ʾaḥadun
and none shall bind as He binds.
27
يا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفسُ المُطمَئِنَّةُ
yā-ʾayyatuhā n-nafsu l-muṭmaʾinnatu
‘O soul at peace!
28
ارجِعي إِلىٰ رَبِّكِ راضِيَةً مَرضِيَّةً
irjiʿī ʾilā rabbiki rāḍiyatan marḍiyyatan
Return to your Lord, pleased, pleasing!
29
فَادخُلي في عِبادي
fa-dkhulī fī ʿibādī
Then enter among My servants!
30
وَادخُلي جَنَّتي
wa-dkhulī jannatī
And enter My paradise!’