Al-Fajr

By the Daybreak,

by the Ten Nights,

by the even and the odd,

by the passing night––

is this oath strong enough for a rational person?

Have you [Prophet] considered how your Lord dealt with [the people] of 'Ad,

of Iram, [the city] of lofty pillars,

whose like has never been made in any land,

and the Thamud, who hewed into the rocks in the valley,

and the mighty and powerful Pharaoh?

All of them committed excesses in their lands,

and spread corruption there:

your Lord let a scourge of punishment loose on them.

Your Lord is always watchful.

[The nature of] man is that, when his Lord tries him through honour and blessings, he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me,’

but when He tries him through the restriction of his provision, he says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me.’

No indeed! You [people] do not honour orphans,

you do not urge one another to feed the poor,

you consume inheritance greedily,

and you love wealth with a passion.

No indeed! When the earth is pounded to dust, pounded and pounded,

when your Lord comes with the angels, rank upon rank,

when Hell is that Day brought near- on that Day man will take heed, but what good will that be to him then?

He will say, ‘Would that I had provided for this life to come!’

On that Day, no one will punish as He punishes,

and no one will bind as He binds.

‘[But] you, soul at peace:

return to your Lord well pleased and well pleasing;

go in among My servants;

and into My Garden.’