Surat Ash-Shams

Surat Ash-Shams opens with Allah swearing by some of the greatest signs in His creation. He swears by the sun and its morning brightness, by the moon that follows it, by the day when it reveals everything, by the night when it covers everything, by the sky and the One who built it, by the earth and the One who spread it, and by the soul and the One who shaped it (91:1-7). Seven oaths in a row. When Allah swears by this much of His creation, He is telling us to pay close attention to what comes next. These oaths lead to the most important lesson of the surah. Allah placed inside every soul the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong (91:8). Then He tells us who truly succeeds and who truly fails. The one who purifies his soul succeeds, and the one who corrupts it fails (91:9-10). We purify the soul with faith and good deeds, and we corrupt it by letting sins take over. To show us what this looks like, Allah tells the story of Thamud, the people of Prophet Salih. They corrupted their souls with pride and disobedience. Allah gave them a clear sign, a she-camel, and His Messenger warned them not to harm her and to let her drink (91:13). But the most wretched man among them got up and killed her (91:12, 91:14). The Prophet ﷺ described him as a strong, powerful man protected by his people (Sahih al-Bukhari 4942). Because the whole tribe agreed to his crime, the punishment fell on all of them, and their Lord levelled their city to the ground (91:14). And Allah has no fear of any consequence for His judgement (91:15).