Shems

A Quranic Name for Boys and Girls

Meaning: Light and Radiance

Shems is variant of Shams and has the exact same meaning and pronunciation (see below for full meaning). You can use either Shems or Shams, both are correct and acceptable. If you like this variant more and you'd like to pronounce it the way it is spelled (different than the original name), this is perfectly acceptable. For more details please see the main entry at: Shams.

Full Meaning of Shems

Shems is the Arabic word for the sun. Figuratively, Shems means light, guidance, clarity, power, or fame.

Shems is grammatically a feminine noun and is more commonly used for girls, but it can also be found as a name for boys. It is mentioned about 33 times in the Quran. It is also the name of Surah 91 of the Quran. This Surah is named after the sun and contains 15 oaths, starting with:

“By the sun and its brightness”

Quranic Verses

…Abraham said, “Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west.” So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. (2:258)

So when [Prophet Ibrahim]  saw the sun rising, he said, ‘This is my lord; this is greater.’ But when it set, he said, ‘O my people, indeed I am free from what you associate with Allah.’ Indeed, I have turned my face toward He who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward truth, and I am not of those who associate others with Allah.’ (Quran 6:78-79)

Indeed, Allah is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah; so how are you deluded? [He is] the cleaver of daybreak and has made the night for rest and the sun and moon for calculation. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing. (Quran 6:95-96)

Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly; and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command. Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds. (Quran 7:54)

It is Allah who erected the heavens without pillars that you [can] see; then He established Himself above the Throne and subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. He arranges [each] matter; He details the signs that you may, of the meeting with your Lord, be certain. (Quran 13:2)

Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its meridian] until the darkness of the night and [also] the Qur’an of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed. And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station. (Quran 17:78-79)

And you would have seen the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [lying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray – never will you find for him a protecting guide. (Quran 18:17)