وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا 10
Translations
And he has failed who instills it [with corruption].
Transliteration
Wa qad khāba man dassāhā
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah concludes Surah Ash-Shams, stating that whoever corrupts and suppresses their soul (nafs) has indeed failed and lost. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi interpret 'dassāhā' (darkened/suppressed it) as referring to those who ignore the divine guidance and follow their base desires, thereby corrupting their conscience and moral nature. The ayah emphasizes that true success lies in purifying the soul, while its corruption leads to ultimate failure in both this world and the next.
Revelation Context
Surah Ash-Shams is a Meccan surah that uses natural phenomena (the sun, moon, night, day) as signs of Allah's majesty and divine order. This ayah appears at the conclusion of the surah as a powerful warning about the consequences of spiritual corruption, complementing the earlier verses about the soul's purification (tazkiyah) in ayah 9, which presents the contrasting path of success through purifying the soul.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 'The best of you are those who have the best character,' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3662), which relates to the cultivation and purification of the soul. Additionally, 'Verily, in the body there is a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart' (Sahih Bukhari 52) speaks to the importance of purifying one's inner self.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that our ultimate success or failure is determined by the state of our souls and our moral choices—whether we heed divine guidance or suppress our conscience through sin and denial. For modern believers, it serves as a profound reminder that material success means nothing if spiritual integrity is compromised, and that constant self-reflection and moral accountability are essential to maintaining a purified heart.