Surah Al-Fajr – Yousef Bin Noah Ahmad

Al-Fajr ("The Dawn") is the 89th surah of the Quran, in Juz' Amma. Meccan, it has 30 verses and is the 10th surah in the traditional order of revelation, after Al-Lail. It opens with a series of oaths: by the dawn, by ten nights, by the even and the odd, and by the night as it departs (89:1-4).

Most early commentators, including Ibn Abbas, took the "ten nights" to be the first ten of Dhu al-Hijja; others saw in them the last ten nights of Ramadan.

The surah recalls the fate of 'Ad and Iram "of the lofty pillars", of Thamud who carved the rocks in the valley, and of Pharaoh "of the stakes": all transgressed and spread corruption, for "your Lord is ever watchful" (89:6-14). It then corrects a false belief: wealth is no proof of honour, nor poverty of disgrace, while people neglect the orphan and the poor and love wealth immensely (89:15-20).

When the earth is crushed and your Lord comes with the angels, rank upon rank, man will say, too late: "If only I had sent ahead for my life!" (89:24). It ends with the call to the soul at peace: "Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing" (89:27-30).