The Dawn
•30 verses
A Meccan surah of 30 verses, Al-Fajr takes its name from the oath by the dawn. It recalls the fate of ancient peoples destroyed for their arrogance: the 'Ad, the Thamud, and Pharaoh.
Al-Fajr condemns attachment to wealth, the lack of generosity toward the orphan and the poor, and reminds that true success is Allah's approval on the Last Day.
Encourage your child to share with others, explaining that generosity is a quality beloved by Allah, as taught in this surah.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
By the dawn
And [by] ten nights1
And [by] the even [number] and the odd
And [by] the night when it passes,
Is there [not] in [all] that an oath [sufficient] for one of perception?1
Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with ʿAad -
[With] Iram1 - who had lofty pillars,2
The likes of whom had never been created in the land?
And [with] Thamūd, who carved out the rocks in the valley?
And [with] Pharaoh, owner of the stakes?1
[All of] whom oppressed within the lands
And increased therein the corruption.
So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment.
Indeed, your Lord is in observation.
And as for man, when his Lord tries him and [thus] is generous to him and favors him, he says, "My Lord has honored me."1
But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says, "My Lord has humiliated me."
No!1 But you do not honor the orphan
And you do not encourage one another to feed the poor.
And you consume inheritance, devouring [it] altogether,1
And you love wealth with immense love.
No! When the earth has been leveled - pounded and crushed
And your Lord has come1 and the angels, rank upon rank,
And brought [within view], that Day, is Hell - that Day, man will remember, but how [i.e., what good] to him will be the remembrance?
He will say, "Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life."1
So on that Day, none will punish [as severely] as His punishment,
And none will bind [as severely] as His binding [of the evildoers].
[To the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul,
Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him],
And enter among My [righteous] servants
And enter My Paradise."
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