Islam
Surah Al-Lail (92)"The Night", 21 verses, revealed in Mecca
Text
By the night enshrouding
And the day resplendent
And Him Who hath created male and female,
Lo! your effort is dispersed (toward divers ends).
As for him who giveth and is dutiful (toward Allah)
And believeth in goodness;
Surely We will ease his way unto the state of ease.
But as for him who hoardeth and deemeth himself independent,
And disbelieveth in goodness;
Surely We will ease his way unto adversity.
His riches will not save him when he perisheth.
Lo! Ours it is (to give) the guidance
And lo! unto Us belong the latter portion and the former.
Therefor have I warned you of the flaming Fire
Which only the most wretched must endure,
He who denieth and turneth away.
Far removed from it will be the righteous
Who giveth his wealth that he may grow (in goodness).
And none hath with him any favour for reward,
Except as seeking (to fulfil) the purpose of his Lord Most High.
He verily will be content.
English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via alquran.cloud.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”