Al-Fajr

wal-fajri

By the Daybreak,

walayālin ʿashrin

by the Ten Nights,

wal-shafʿi wal-watri

by the even and the odd,

wa-al-layli idhā yasri

by the passing night––

hal fī dhālika qasamun lidhī ḥij'rin

is this oath strong enough for a rational person?

alam tara kayfa faʿala rabbuka biʿādin

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

irama dhāti l-ʿimādi

of Iram, [the city] of lofty pillars,

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

whose like has never been made in any land,

wathamūda alladhīna jābū l-ṣakhra bil-wādi

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

wafir'ʿawna dhī l-awtādi

and the mighty and powerful Pharaoh?

alladhīna ṭaghaw fī l-bilādi

All of them committed excesses in their lands,

fa-aktharū fīhā l-fasāda

and spread corruption there:

faṣabba ʿalayhim rabbuka sawṭa ʿadhābin

your Lord let a scourge of punishment loose on them.

inna rabbaka labil-mir'ṣādi

Your Lord is always watchful.

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

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

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

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

kallā bal lā tuk'rimūna l-yatīma

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

walā taḥāḍḍūna ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-mis'kīni

you do not urge one another to feed the poor,

watakulūna l-turātha aklan lamman

you consume inheritance greedily,

watuḥibbūna l-māla ḥubban jamman

and you love wealth with a passion.

kallā idhā dukkati l-arḍu dakkan dakkan

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

wajāa rabbuka wal-malaku ṣaffan ṣaffan

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

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

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

yaqūlu yālaytanī qaddamtu liḥayātī

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

fayawma-idhin lā yuʿadhibu ʿadhābahu aḥadun

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

walā yūthiqu wathāqahu aḥadun

and no one will bind as He binds.

yāayyatuhā l-nafsu l-muṭ'ma-inatu

‘[But] you, soul at peace:

ir'jiʿī ilā rabbiki rāḍiyatan marḍiyyatan

return to your Lord well pleased and well pleasing;

fa-ud'khulī fī ʿibādī

go in among My servants;

wa-ud'khulī jannatī

and into My Garden.’