Al-Fajr

By the Daybreak,

وَالْفَجْرِ

wal-fajri

by the Ten Nights,

وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ

walayālin ʿashrin

by the even and the odd,

وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ

wal-shafʿi wal-watri

by the passing night––

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ

wa-al-layli idhā yasri

is this oath strong enough for a rational person?

هَلْ فِي ذَٰلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِذِي حِجْرٍ

hal fī dhālika qasamun lidhī ḥij'rin

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

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ

alam tara kayfa faʿala rabbuka biʿādin

of Iram, [the city] of lofty pillars,

إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ

irama dhāti l-ʿimādi

whose like has never been made in any land,

الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ

allatī lam yukh'laq mith'luhā fī l-bilādi

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

وَثَمُودَ الَّذِينَ جَابُوا الصَّخْرَ بِالْوَادِ

wathamūda alladhīna jābū l-ṣakhra bil-wādi

and the mighty and powerful Pharaoh?

وَفِرْعَوْنَ ذِي الْأَوْتَادِ

wafir'ʿawna dhī l-awtādi

All of them committed excesses in their lands,

الَّذِينَ طَغَوْا فِي الْبِلَادِ

alladhīna ṭaghaw fī l-bilādi

and spread corruption there:

فَأَكْثَرُوا فِيهَا الْفَسَادَ

fa-aktharū fīhā l-fasāda

your Lord let a scourge of punishment loose on them.

فَصَبَّ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّكَ سَوْطَ عَذَابٍ

faṣabba ʿalayhim rabbuka sawṭa ʿadhābin

Your Lord is always watchful.

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

inna rabbaka labil-mir'ṣādi

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

فَأَمَّا الْإِنْسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ

fa-ammā l-insānu idhā mā ib'talāhu rabbuhu fa-akramahu wanaʿʿamahu fayaqūlu rabbī akramani

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

وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ

wa-ammā idhā mā ib'talāhu faqadara ʿalayhi riz'qahu fayaqūlu rabbī ahānani

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

كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ لَا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ

kallā bal lā tuk'rimūna l-yatīma

you do not urge one another to feed the poor,

وَلَا تَحَاضُّونَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ

walā taḥāḍḍūna ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-mis'kīni

you consume inheritance greedily,

وَتَأْكُلُونَ التُّرَاثَ أَكْلًا لَمًّا

watakulūna l-turātha aklan lamman

and you love wealth with a passion.

وَتُحِبُّونَ الْمَالَ حُبًّا جَمًّا

watuḥibbūna l-māla ḥubban jamman

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

كَلَّا إِذَا دُكَّتِ الْأَرْضُ دَكًّا دَكًّا

kallā idhā dukkati l-arḍu dakkan dakkan

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

وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا

wajāa rabbuka wal-malaku ṣaffan ṣaffan

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

وَجِيءَ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِجَهَنَّمَ ۚ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَذَكَّرُ الْإِنْسَانُ وَأَنَّىٰ لَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ

wajīa yawma-idhin bijahannama yawma-idhin yatadhakkaru l-insānu wa-annā lahu l-dhik'rā

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

يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي قَدَّمْتُ لِحَيَاتِي

yaqūlu yālaytanī qaddamtu liḥayātī

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

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لَا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ

fayawma-idhin lā yuʿadhibu ʿadhābahu aḥadun

and no one will bind as He binds.

وَلَا يُوثِقُ وَثَاقَهُ أَحَدٌ

walā yūthiqu wathāqahu aḥadun

‘[But] you, soul at peace:

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ

yāayyatuhā l-nafsu l-muṭ'ma-inatu

return to your Lord well pleased and well pleasing;

ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً

ir'jiʿī ilā rabbiki rāḍiyatan marḍiyyatan

go in among My servants;

فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي

fa-ud'khulī fī ʿibādī

and into My Garden.’

وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي

wa-ud'khulī jannatī