Translation of the meanings Ayah 1 Surah Ash-Shams - English Translation - Abdullah Hasan Yaqoub - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ash-Shams

Ayah: 1

وَٱلشَّمۡسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا

1. (I swear)¹ by the sun and its brightness,

1. Allāh (God) swearing by His creation is indirect swearing by His own Holy Self, for He is the Lord of all beings. So, when Allāh takes an oath of some of the created things he is drawing our attention to the great importance of the matter he is speaking about, and the importance of what He is swearing by. Allah’s swearing by the creation is simply taking an oath of Himself, His Perfectness, and His own Greatness. Allāh mentions some of His created things as evidence of His existence and emphasizes to the readers of the Divine Revelation to ponder over His Signs. While Allāh can swear by what He wills, yet for mankind it is unlawful for them to swear by other than Allāh (God). It is a great sin to swear by the prophet Muhammad or Jesus Christ or other prophet or angel or righteous person, or the Ka’bah, or someone’s life or honor. The prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: "Whoever swears by anything other than Allāh is guilty of disbelief or idolatry." He also said: "Do not swear by idols, nor by your fathers."