Maktab QuranSurah Ash-Shams opens with the longest chain of oaths in the Quran — eleven in a row: the sun and its morning light, the moon, the day, the night, the sky, the earth, and finally the soul and the One who fashioned it — all converging on one sentence: 'Successful is the one who purifies it, and ruined is the one who buries it.' The Prophet ﷺ specifically named this surah when he corrected Mu'adh ibn Jabal for leading overly long prayers, recommending it as ideal prayer-length recitation (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim).
Surah Ash-Shams is the 91st chapter of the Qur'an, a Meccan surah of 15 verses. Its name means “The Sun”. It opens with seven paired oaths by the sun, moon, day, night, sky, earth and the soul, states that success belongs to whoever purifies the soul, and then gives Thamud as the example of what happens when a people do the opposite.
Surah Ash-Shams at a glance
| Surah number | 91 of 114 |
|---|---|
| Arabic name | سُورَةُ الشَّمۡسِ |
| Name in English | Ash-Shams — “The Sun” |
| Verses (ayahs) | 15 |
| Revealed in | Makkah |
| Juz | 30 |
| Length in the Mushaf | about 1 page |
Seven oaths
The surah opens with the longest run of consecutive oaths in the Qur'an: by the sun and its brightness, the moon that follows it, the day that displays it, the night that covers it, the sky and He who constructed it, the earth and He who spread it, and the soul and He who proportioned it and inspired it with discernment of its wickedness and its righteousness.
The answer to the oaths
The oaths resolve into two short verses: he has succeeded who purifies the soul, and he has failed who instils it with corruption. This is the centre of the surah.
Thamud as the example
The second half narrates Thamud denying their prophet out of transgression, the most wretched of them being sent forth, Salih warning them not to harm the she-camel of Allah or prevent her drink, their denial and hamstringing of her, and the destruction that followed and fell equally upon them.
Read Surah Ash-Shams in full
The Arabic below is the Uthmani script, with a Roman transliteration to help you sound out each verse and the Sahih International English translation of the meaning. If you are learning to recite it, read the Arabic line first and use the transliteration only to check yourself — leaning on it slows real reading down.
Listen to Surah Ash-Shams (Mishary Al-Afasy)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلشَّمْسِ وَضُحَىٰهَا
Wash shamsi wa duhaa haa
By the sun and its brightness
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَىٰهَا
Wal qamari izaa talaa haa
And [by] the moon when it follows it
وَٱلنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّىٰهَا
Wannahaari izaa jallaa haa
And [by] the day when it displays it
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰهَا
Wallaili izaa yaghshaa haa
And [by] the night when it covers it
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَمَا بَنَىٰهَا
Wassamaaa'i wa maa banaahaa
And [by] the sky and He who constructed it
وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَىٰهَا
Wal ardi wa maa tahaahaa
And [by] the earth and He who spread it
وَنَفْسٍۢ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا
Wa nafsinw wa maa sawwaahaa
And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا
Fa-alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa
And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness,
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا
Qad aflaha man zakkaahaa
He has succeeded who purifies it,
وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا
Wa qad khaaba man dassaahaa
And he has failed who instills it [with corruption].
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَىٰهَآ
Kazzabat Samoodu bi taghwaahaaa
Thamud denied [their prophet] by reason of their transgression,
إِذِ ٱنۢبَعَثَ أَشْقَىٰهَا
Izim ba'asa ashqaahaa
When the most wretched of them was sent forth.
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ نَاقَةَ ٱللَّهِ وَسُقْيَٰهَا
Faqaala lahum Rasoolul laahi naaqatal laahi wa suqiyaahaa
And the messenger of Allah [Salih] said to them, "[Do not harm] the she-camel of Allah or [prevent her from] her drink."
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسَوَّىٰهَا
Fakazzaboohu fa'aqaroohaa fadamdama 'alaihim Rabbuhum bizambihim fasaw waahaa
But they denied him and hamstrung her. So their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin and made it equal [upon all of them].
وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَٰهَا
Wa laa yakhaafu'uqbaahaa
And He does not fear the consequence thereof.
Learning Surah Ash-Shams
The seven opening oaths are built on one repeating pattern, so they memorise quickly as a set. Students usually slow at the shift into the Thamud account, which changes rhythm.
Why memorize Surah Ash-Shams?
Because it is a sunnah-endorsed prayer surah: short enough to memorize in days, and explicitly the kind of surah the Prophet ﷺ recommended reciting in congregational prayer. Memorize it and you have upgraded your salah immediately.
How long does Surah Ash-Shams take to memorize?
Honest answer: it depends on your daily portion and whether someone is correcting you. Surah Ash-Shams is about 14 lines of mushaf text. Here is what that means at three realistic paces — each assuming you also run the revision cycle (which is what makes it permanent):
| Pace | New memorization per day | Time to finish Surah Ash-Shams | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed | ~3 lines | about 5 days | Busy adults, first-time memorizers |
| Steady | ~5 lines | about 3 days | Most students — the sweet spot |
| Focused | ~10 lines | about 2 days | Experienced memorizers, school holidays |
Add roughly a consolidation week at the end — the point where you can recite the whole surah to a listener without prompts. Our guide to how long the whole Quran takes uses the same arithmetic.
The smart way to memorize Surah Ash-Shams
The oath-chain is a list, and lists love visual memory: sun → moon → day → night → sky → earth → soul. Walk it as a camera panning from the sky downward into the human heart, and the sequence never scrambles. That is ayahs 1–10 done as one sweep. The remaining five ayahs are a single story — Thamud, the she-camel, and the levelling — memorized as a cautionary epilogue: what happens to a soul that chooses burial over purification. Two sittings, one week of consolidation, permanent.
A milestone plan for Surah Ash-Shams
At the steady pace (~5 lines a day), Surah Ash-Shams breaks into four milestones. Print our free planner PDF and mark them off:
| Portion | New-memorization time | Cumulative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milestone 1 | Ayahs 1–3 | ~1 day | Day 1 |
| Milestone 2 | Ayahs 4–6 | ~1 day | Day 2 |
| Milestone 3 | Ayahs 7–9 | ~1 day | Day 3 |
| Milestone 4 | Ayahs 10–15 | ~1 day | Day 4 |
Sabaq, sabqi, manzil — the three gears
Memorize new lines (sabaq), keep this week's lines warm (sabqi), and cycle everything older (manzil) — three gears that together make memorization permanent instead of temporary. The pattern is centuries old because it works. Get it as a printable system in our free Quran memorization planner, or run it with a teacher on the Hifz course.
Don't memorize your mistakes
The most expensive error in memorization is invisible: reciting to yourself, you cannot catch your own mispronunciations — and repetition welds them in. This is why every serious hifz program pairs students with a listening teacher. Ours work one-to-one on a live synchronized Quran page, correcting letter by letter, with female teachers available for women and girls. The trial lesson is free.