| asad | |
|---|---|
| 1. * | CONSIDER the sun and its radiant brightness, |
| 2. * | and the moon as it reflects the sun! * |
| 3. * | Consider the day as it reveals the world, * |
| 4. * | and the night as it veils it darkly! |
| 5. * | Consider the sky and its wondrous make, * |
| 6. * | and the earth and all its expanse! |
| 7. * | Consider the human self, and how it is formed in accordance with what it is meant to be, * |
| 8. * | and how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God! * |
| 9. * | To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes this [self] to grow in purity, |
| 10. * | and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness]. |
| 11. * | TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud, * |
| 12. * | when that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit his evil deed], |
| 13. * | although God's apostle had told them, "It is a she-camel belonging to God, so let her drink [and do her no harm]!" * |
| 14. * | But they gave him the lie, and cruelly slaughtered her * - whereupon their Sustainer visited them wwith utter destruction for this their sin, destroying them all alike: |
| 15. * | for none [of them] had any fear of what might befall them. * |