(Revealed at Mecca)

26 Verses in 1 Section

Sections of Surah Al-Ghashiayh

1. The Overwhelming Event.

Al-Ghashiyah - The Overwhelming Event

The overwhelming event is the Doom of the disbelievers and their punishment in the hereafter, Man can draw lessons and get guided by the natural phenomena at work in the creation of the world

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

“In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful”

هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ

“Hath not come unto thee the tidings of the Overwhelming Event?1” (88:1)

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ

“(Some) faces on that day shall be downcast” (88:2)

عَامِلَةٌ نَاصِبَةٌ

“Toiling, weary” (88:3)

تَصْلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةً

“Entering into the fire, blazing” (88:4)

تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ آنِيَةٍ

“Made to drink from a spring (fiercely) boiling2“ (88:5)

لَيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ ضَرِيعٍ

“For them there shall not be (any) food but of the bitter-thorny fruit ‘Zaree’” (88:6)

لَا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِنْ جُوعٍ

“Which will neither fatten nor give any relief3from hunger” (88:7)

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاعِمَةٌ

“(Other) faces on that day shall be happy” (88:8)

لِسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ

“With their efforts past, well pleased” (88:9)

فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ

“In a grand garden” (88:10)

لَا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَاغِيَةً

“They shall hear not therein any vain talk” (88:11)

فِيهَا عَيْنٌ جَارِيَةٌ

“Therein a spring flowing” (88:12)

فِيهَا سُرُرٌ مَرْفُوعَةٌ

“Therein are couches4exalted” (88:13)

وَأَكْوَابٌ مَوْضُوعَةٌ

“And goblets ready placed” (88:14)

وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌ

“And cushions ranged in order” (88:15)

وَزَرَابِيُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ

“And carpets spread forth” (88:16)

أَفَلَا يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ

“What! See they not unto the camels, how they are created?” (88:17)

وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ

“And Unto the heaven, how it is raised” (88:18)

وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ

“And unto the mountains, how they are set up?” (88:19)

وَإِلَى الْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ

“And unto the earth, how it is spread out?” (88:20)

فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُذَكِّرٌ

“So, thou5(go on) reminding; Thou art only a Reminder6“ (88:21)

لَسْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمُصَيْطِرٍ

“Thou art not, over them, a compeller7“ (88:22)

إِلَّا مَنْ تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ

“But whosoever turneth back and disbelieveth” (88:23)

فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ الْعَذَابَ الْأَكْبَرَ

“Then will chastise him God with the greatest chastisement” (88:24)

إِنَّ إِلَيْنَا إِيَابَهُمْ

“Verily unto Us is their return” (88:25)

ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُمْ

“Then verily, upon Us is to reckon with them” (88:26)

Commentary

Verse 1

‘Ghashiyah’, i.e., that which covers or overshadows or overwhelms, i.e., a terrible thing or event which confounds the people and sends them off their senses. The Day of Judgment will be a state of such reality that what we think and see in this life will have been lost in our realisation of the reality which will be laid bare before us8. The Day of Judgment.

The enjoyments referred to in this Surah are all figurative presentations of the heavenly entertainment in the heavenly assemblies of the souls. (A.P.)

Verse 2

The feeling of humiliation in a man is manifested only on his face. On the Day of Judgment, the disbelievers and the wicked will be humiliated for their arrogance and pride. Their faces will be awful and terror-stricken and downcast.

Verse 3-5

Those who were striving in the life here in hostility against the godly ones. (A.P.)

Verse 6

‘Zaree’ a kind of dry thorny shrub, so bitter in taste that none of the animals even go near it, it is also loathsome in appearance. This tree will be the food of the fellows in hell.

Verse 8-16

The state of bliss which the righteous will be placed in.

Verse 17-20

Man’s attention is invited to the four things which he sees every day.

1. The Camel, the ship of the desert. The usefulness of the animal, its build and its peculiar traits.

2. The Skies, with their unlimited heights, their wonderful bodies and their mystic functioning with the tremendous control over their regulated activities.

3. The Mountains, their huge sizes, their fixed immovable stand, the usefulness of its material, the stone.

4. The Earth with its extent, being a globe yet serving a wide plane, and its amenability to the growth of the essential produce out of it, and the great store of minerals, metals and the liquids treasured in it.

M.A. translates (Ibil) to mean ‘clouds’ - and in his notes refers to - Tajul Arus and some Arabic Lexicon - saying it is the view of Abu Amr Ibn al-Ala (one of the well-known early reciters of Qur’an), but Maj’ma ul-Bayan mentions the name of the same Abu Amr here as one of the exponents of the passage who gives the reason why God has referred to the creation of the camel here and does not give any indication of Abu Amr’s interpreting. ‘Ibil’ as clouds, nor any other lexiconist - even the modern standard Arabic dictionary ‘Al-monjid’ does not give any such interpretation although ‘Tajul Arus’ is one of the sources of ‘Almonjid’. However, there is no justification whatsoever for the interpretation of ‘Ibil’ into clouds.

There are two questions here

(1) The connection of the verse 18-20 to the previous verses,

(2) What is the justification of bringing these sentences into conjunctive clauses.

The answer to No. 1 is that it is connected with the first verse of the Surah in conveying a warning and the answer to No. 2 is that these four wonders of nature referred to, in the verses, were the most familiar scenes to the people of the driest regions of the earth. The camel and its wonderful structure and utility in the desert with the heavens raised over it, the raised mountains, the plain desert, being within the observation of everyone while the other sceneries of nature might not be available to all. Thus, Qur’an draws the attention of man to the simplest verses of the Book of nature, showing that even there are sufficient signs to prove the purposefulness of creation. (A.P.)

Verse 21-22

The duty of an apostle of God is only to preach the faith and teach the people its practice and show them the right ways of life. It is not for the apostle of God to watch the people against their wickedness or to punish them.

‘Musaitir’ here is used in sense of compelling one to any action, i.e., Compeller9, as otherwise the Prophet and his successors represent God as His Vicegerent to execute the divine legislative will and it is in absolute conformity with it. (A.P.).

Verse 23-24

Chastising those who turn back and disbelieve in the truth rests only with God.

Here and elsewhere God refers to Himself in plural, the totality of His Authority is implied. Thus, all the entities functioning in the machinery of His authority are included10. (A.P.).

• 1. Refer to: 12:107, The Total Resurrection.
• 2. Or a humiliating stuff.
• 3. Sufficing – satisfying.
• 4. Exalted - joyful seats raised.
• 5. The Holy Prophet.
• 6. Refer to: 87:9.
• 7. Refer to: 2:256, 10:99.
• 8. See 12:107.
• 9. Refer to: 10:99.
• 10. Viz. the Angels, the Spirits, the Prophets and their successors the Imams are included