Surah Al-Fajr (The Dawn) in English

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. والفجر

   1

   By the Dawn,

   wa-l-fajri

2. وليال عشر

   2

   by the ten nights,

   wa-layālin ʿashrin

3. والشفع والوتر

   3

   by the Even and the Odd,

   wa-sh-shafʿi wa-l-watri

4. والليل إذا يسر

   4

   by the night when it departs!

   wa-l-layli ʾidhā yasri

5. هل في ذلك قسم لذي حجر

   5

   Is there an oath in that for one possessing intellect?

   hal fī dhālika qasamun li-dhī ḥijrin

6. ألم تر كيف فعل ربك بعاد

   6

   Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with [the people of] ‘Ad,

   ʾa-lam tara kayfa faʿala rabbuka bi-ʿādin

7. إرم ذات العماد

   7

   [and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars,

   ʾirama dhāti l-ʿimādi

8. التي لم يخلق مثلها في البلاد

   8

   the like of which was not created among cities,

   allatī lam yukhlaq mithluhā fī l-bilādi

9. وثمود الذين جابوا الصخر بالواد

   9

   and [the people of] Thamud, who hollowed out the rocks in the valley,

   wa-thamūda lladhīna jābū ṣ-ṣakhra bi-l-wādi

10. وفرعون ذي الأوتاد

    10

    and Pharaoh, the impaler

    wa-firʿawna dhī l-ʾawtādi

11. الذين طغوا في البلاد

    11

    —those who rebelled [against Allah] in their cities

    alladhīna ṭaghaw fī l-bilādi

12. فأكثروا فيها الفساد

    12

    and caused much corruption in them,

    fa-ʾaktharū fīhā l-fasāda

13. فصب عليهم ربك سوط عذاب

    13

    so your Lord poured on them lashes of punishment.

    fa-ṣabba ʿalayhim rabbuka sawṭa ʿadhābin

14. إن ربك لبالمرصاد

    14

    Indeed your Lord is in ambush.

    ʾinna rabbaka la-bi-l-mirṣādi

15. فأما الإنسان إذا ما ابتلاه ربه فأكرمه ونعمه فيقول ربي أكرمن

    15

    As for man, whenever his Lord tests him, and grants him honour, and blesses him, he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me.’

    fa-ʾammā l-ʾinsānu ʾidhā mā btalāhu rabbuhū fa-ʾakramahū wa-naʿʿamahū fa-yaqūlu rabbī ʾakramani

16. وأما إذا ما ابتلاه فقدر عليه رزقه فيقول ربي أهانن

    16

    But when He tests him and tightens for him his provision, he says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me.’

    wa-ʾammā ʾidhā mā btalāhu fa-qadara ʿalayhi rizqahū fa-yaqūlu rabbī ʾahānani

17. كلا بل لا تكرمون اليتيم

    17

    No indeed! No, you do not honour the orphan,

    kallā bal lā tukrimūna l-yatīma

18. ولا تحاضون على طعام المسكين

    18

    and do not urge the feeding of the needy.

    wa-lā taḥāḍḍūna ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-miskīni

19. وتأكلون التراث أكلا لما

    19

    You eat the inheritance rapaciously,

    wa-taʾkulūna t-turātha ʾaklan lamman

20. وتحبون المال حبا جما

    20

    and love wealth with much fondness.

    wa-tuḥibbūna l-māla ḥubban jamman

21. كلا إذا دكت الأرض دكا دكا

    21

    No indeed! When the earth is levelled to a plain,

    kallā ʾidhā dukkati l-ʾarḍu dakkan dakkan

22. وجاء ربك والملك صفا صفا

    22

    and your Lord [’s edict] arrives with the angels in ranks,

    wa-jāʾa rabbuka wa-l-malaku ṣaffan ṣaffan

23. وجيء يومئذ بجهنم يومئذ يتذكر الإنسان وأنى له الذكرى

    23

    the day when hell is brought [near], man will take admonition on that day, but what will that admonition avail him?

    wa-jīʾa yawmaʾidhin bi-jahannama yawmaʾidhin yatadhakkaru l-ʾinsānu wa-ʾannā lahu dh-dhikrā