Tazkirul Quran · Tafsir · in English
الغاشية
Al-Ghashiyah
The Overwhelming · Meccan · 26 ayahs
87:4–88:17Page 592
هَلۡ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلۡغَٰشِيَةِ ١
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
وُجُوهٞ يَوۡمَئِذٍ خَٰشِعَةٌ ٢
[Some] faces, that Day, will be humbled,
عَامِلَةٞ نَّاصِبَةٞ ٣
Working [hard] and exhausted.1
تَصۡلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةٗ ٤
They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire.
تُسۡقَىٰ مِنۡ عَيۡنٍ ءَانِيَةٖ ٥
They will be given drink from a boiling spring.
لَّيۡسَ لَهُمۡ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعٖ ٦
For them there will be no food except from a poisonous, thorny plant
لَّا يُسۡمِنُ وَلَا يُغۡنِي مِن جُوعٖ ٧
Which neither nourishes nor avails against hunger.
وُجُوهٞ يَوۡمَئِذٖ نَّاعِمَةٞ ٨
[Other] faces, that Day, will show pleasure.
لِّسَعۡيِهَا رَاضِيَةٞ ٩
With their effort [they are] satisfied
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٖ ١٠
In an elevated garden,
لَّا تَسۡمَعُ فِيهَا لَٰغِيَةٗ ١١
Wherein they will hear no unsuitable speech.1
فِيهَا عَيۡنٞ جَارِيَةٞ ١٢
Within it is a flowing spring.
فِيهَا سُرُرٞ مَّرۡفُوعَةٞ ١٣
Within it are couches raised high
وَأَكۡوَابٞ مَّوۡضُوعَةٞ ١٤
And cups put in place
وَنَمَارِقُ مَصۡفُوفَةٞ ١٥
And cushions lined up
وَزَرَابِيُّ مَبۡثُوثَةٌ ١٦
And carpets spread around.
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡإِبِلِ كَيۡفَ خُلِقَتۡ ١٧
Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?
Man observes that a serviceable animal like the camel is obedient to him. The sky in all its majesty is well disposed towards him. The earth, without any effort on our part, is subservient to our interests. All these phenomena remind a thoughtful man of God and the Hereafter. Those who derive the nourishment of remembrance from these arrangements of the world have established their entitlement to God’s eternal bounties, while those who have remained lost in forgetfulness and neglect, have proved that they deserve to be deprived of every kind of bounty—forever.
88:18–21Page 592
وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيۡفَ رُفِعَتۡ ١٨
And at the sky - how it is raised?
وَإِلَى ٱلۡجِبَالِ كَيۡفَ نُصِبَتۡ ١٩
And at the mountains - how they are erected?
وَإِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ كَيۡفَ سُطِحَتۡ ٢٠
And at the earth - how it is spread out?
فَذَكِّرۡ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٞ ٢١
So remind, [O Muḥammad]; you are only a reminder.
Calling people to God aims at exhorting people through peaceful persuasion, to make them realize their Creator, the one and only God; to understand the purpose of their creation; the coming of the Hereafter, of their accountability to their Creator, etc. The purpose of this exhortation is to awaken souls from their slumber. It is to put a lost person on to the right path leading towards God. It is to awaken man’s insight so that he begins to see glimpses of God in the signs of the vast universe. It is to unveil the Creator in the mirror of His creation.
88:22–26Page 592
لَّسۡتَ عَلَيۡهِم بِمُصَيۡطِرٍ ٢٢
You are not over them a controller.
إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ ٢٣
However, he who turns away and disbelieves –
فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡعَذَابَ ٱلۡأَكۡبَرَ ٢٤
Then Allāh will punish him with the greatest punishment.
إِنَّ إِلَيۡنَآ إِيَابَهُمۡ ٢٥
Indeed, to Us is their return.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيۡنَا حِسَابَهُم ٢٦
Then indeed, upon Us is their account.
Man passes through two sets of circumstances in the world—sometimes finding or receiving things and sometimes losing them. Both eventualities, meant to gauge human reactions to different conditions, are for the purpose of putting man to the test. If the individual starts to boast when he receives something and acts negatively when things are taken away from him, he has failed the test.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences