Surah Ash-Shams: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

By the sun and its brightness, by the moon that follows the sun, by the day that appears when (the sun) gives it light, by the night when it covers and enfolds it, by the sky and the One who built it, by the earth and the One who spread it out and laid it smooth, by the soul and the One who fashioned it flawlessly and then inspired in it right and wrong and granted it the ability to tell them apart: those who believe in Allah’s call and consciously fulfill their responsibilities purify their souls and are freed from servitude to fellow human beings and from degeneration. But those who turn their backs on it suffer loss in this world and the Hereafter.

The transgressing people of Thamud, who associated partners with Allah and rejected the call that their prophet Salih made in Allah’s name, had also been warned that if they did not give up this stance, they would be struck by Allah’s punishment. But they demanded that Salih show them a miracle before they would heed the warnings. Thereupon Allah sent them a camel the like of which they had never seen before, warned them not to harm it, and made known to them that, at the place where they watered their animals, this camel and their own animals were to drink in turn, one day each.

Although Allah had made known that He would test them by this, they, as if they themselves were testing Allah, not only denied the camel its right to drink but also killed the animal savagely. Thereupon Allah, because of their insolence, their transgression, and their rebellion against Him, brought ruin upon them and destroyed them. They had never believed that they would meet such an end.