Al-Fajr

وَٱلْفَجْرِ ۱

{ والفجر } أي فجر كل يوم.

By the dawn, that is to say, [by] the dawn of each day,

وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ ۲

{ وليال عشر } أي عشر ذي الحجة.

and [by] the ten nights, the [first] ten nights of Dhū’l-Hijja,

وَٱلشَّفْعِ وَٱلْوَتْرِ ۳

{ والشفع } الزوج { والوتر } بفتح الواو وكسرها لغتان: الفرد.

and [by] the even, the pair, and the odd (read watr or witr, two [alternative] forms), the single,

وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ ۴

{ واليل إذا يسر } مقبلا ومدبرا.

and [by] the night in motion, falling or receding:

هَلْ فِى ذَٰلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِّذِى حِجْرٍ ۵

{ هل فى ذلك } القسم { قسم لذى حجر } عقل؟ وجواب القسم محذوف أي: لتعذبن يا كفار مكة.

Is there in that, oath, an oath for one of sense?, [one of] intellect (the response to the oath has been omitted, that is to say, [it is to be understood as something like], la-tu‘adhdhabunna yā kuffāra Makka, ‘you will assuredly be chastised O disbelievers of Mecca!’).

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعَادٍ ۶

{ ألم تر } تعلم يا محمد { كيف فعل ربك بعاد }؟.

Have you not seen, [do you not] know O Muhammad (s), how your Lord dealt with ‘Ād,

إِرَمَ ذَاتِ ٱلْعِمَادِ ۷

{ إرم } هي عاد الأولى، فإرم عطف بيان أو بدل، ومنع الصرف للعلمية والتأنيث { ذات العماد } أي الطول. كان طول الطويل منهم أربعمائة ذراع.

Iram — these were the former [people of] ‘Ād (Irama is an explicative supplement or a substitution, and it is treated as a diptote because it is a proper noun and feminine) — of the towering ones, that is to say, the tall ones — the tallest one among them would reach four hundred cubits —

ٱلَّتِى لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِى ٱلْبِلَـٰدِ ۸

{ التى لم يخلق مثلها فى البلد } في بطشهم وقوتهم.

the like of which was not created in the land, in terms of their power of assault and strength,

وَثَمُودَ ٱلَّذِينَ جَابُوا۟ ٱلصَّخْرَ بِٱلْوَادِ ۹

{ وثمود الذين جابوا } قطعوا { الصخر } جمع صخرة واتخذوها بيوتا { بالواد } وادي القرى.

and Thamūd, who hollowed, hewed, the rocks (sakhr is the plural of sakhra) in the valley, the Wādī al-Qurā, [rocks] which they used as dwellings,

وَفِرْعَوْنَ ذِى ٱلْأَوْتَادِ ۱۰

{ وفرعون ذى الأوتاد } كان يتد أربعة أوتاد يشد إليها يدي ورجلي من يعذبه.

and Pharaoh, the one of the tent-pegs: he used to fasten four pegs and tie to these the hands and feet of those whom he tortured —

ٱلَّذِينَ طَغَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْبِلَـٰدِ ۱۱

{ الذين طغوا } تجبروا { فى البلد }.

those who were rebellious, became tyrannical, in the land,

فَأَكْثَرُوا۟ فِيهَا ٱلْفَسَادَ ۱۲

{ فأكثروا فيها الفساد } القتل وغيره.

and caused much corruption therein?, [by way of] slaying and otherwise.