سورة الغاشية
Surah Al-Ghashiyah
The Overwhelming
Surah Al-Ghashiyah (The Overwhelming) is the 88th surah of the Quran. It has 26 verses and is a Meccan surah. Below is the complete Arabic text with an English translation and transliteration, verse by verse.
بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
هَلۡ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلۡغَٰشِيَةِ﴿١﴾
Hal ataka hadeethu alghashiyati
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
وُجُوهࣱ يَوۡمَئِذٍ خَٰشِعَةٌ﴿٢﴾
Wujoohun yawmaithin khashiʿatun
[Some] faces, that Day, will be humbled,
عَامِلَةࣱ نَّاصِبَةࣱ﴿٣﴾
ʿamilatun nasibatun
Working [hard] and exhausted.
تَصۡلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةࣰ﴿٤﴾
Tasla naran hamiyatan
They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire.
تُسۡقَىٰ مِنۡ عَيۡنٍ ءَانِيَةࣲ﴿٥﴾
Tusqa min ʿaynin aniyatin
They will be given drink from a boiling spring.
لَّيۡسَ لَهُمۡ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعࣲ﴿٦﴾
Laysa lahum taʿamun illa min dareeʿin
For them there will be no food except from a poisonous, thorny plant
لَّا يُسۡمِنُ وَ لَا يُغۡنِي مِن جُوعࣲ﴿٧﴾
La yusminu wala yughnee min jooʿin
Which neither nourishes nor avails against hunger.
وُجُوهࣱ يَوۡمَئِذࣲ نَّاعِمَةࣱ﴿٨﴾
Wujoohun yawmaithin naʿimatun
[Other] faces, that Day, will show pleasure.
لِّسَعۡيِهَا رَاضِيَةࣱ﴿٩﴾
Lisaʿyiha radiyatun
With their effort [they are] satisfied
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةࣲ﴿١٠﴾
Fee jannatin ʿaliyatin
In an elevated garden,
لَّا تَسۡمَعُ فِيهَا لَٰغِيَةࣰ﴿١١﴾
La tasmaʿu feeha laghiyatan
Wherein they will hear no unsuitable speech.
فِيهَا عَيۡنࣱ جَارِيَةࣱ﴿١٢﴾
Feeha ʿaynun jariyatun
Within it is a flowing spring.
فِيهَا سُرُرࣱ مَّرۡفُوعَةࣱ﴿١٣﴾
Feeha sururun marfooʿatun
Within it are couches raised high
وَ أَكۡوَابࣱ مَّوۡضُوعَةࣱ﴿١٤﴾
Waakwabun mawdooʿatun
And cups put in place
وَ نَمَارِقُ مَصۡفُوفَةࣱ﴿١٥﴾
Wanamariqu masfoofatun
And cushions lined up
وَ زَرَابِيُّ مَبۡثُوثَةٌ﴿١٦﴾
Wazarabiyyu mabthoothatun
And carpets spread around.
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡإِبِلِ كَيۡفَ خُلِقَتۡ﴿١٧﴾
Afala yanthuroona ila alibili kayfa khuliqat
Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?
وَ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيۡفَ رُفِعَتۡ﴿١٨﴾
Waila alssamai kayfa rufiʿat
And at the sky - how it is raised?
وَ إِلَى ٱلۡجِبَالِ كَيۡفَ نُصِبَتۡ﴿١٩﴾
Waila aljibali kayfa nusibat
And at the mountains - how they are erected?
وَ إِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ كَيۡفَ سُطِحَتۡ﴿٢٠﴾
Waila alardi kayfa sutihat
And at the earth - how it is spread out?
فَذَكِّرۡ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرࣱ﴿٢١﴾
Fathakkir innama anta muthakkirun
So remind, [O Muḥammad]; you are only a reminder.
لَّسۡتَ عَلَيۡهِم بِمُصَيۡطِرٍ﴿٢٢﴾
Lasta ʿalayhim bimusaytirin
You are not over them a controller.
إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَ كَفَرَ﴿٢٣﴾
Illa man tawalla wakafara
However, he who turns away and disbelieves –
فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡعَذَابَ ٱلۡأَكۡبَرَ﴿٢٤﴾
Fayuʿaththibuhu Allahu alʿathaba alakbara
Then Allāh will punish him with the greatest punishment.
إِنَّ إِلَيۡنَآ إِيَابَهُمۡ﴿٢٥﴾
Inna ilayna iyabahum
Indeed, to Us is their return.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيۡنَا حِسَابَهُم﴿٢٦﴾
Thumma inna ʿalayna hisabahum
Then indeed, upon Us is their account.
Translation: Saheeh International · Transliteration
About this surah
Name
The Surah takes its name from the word al-ghishiyah in the first verse.
Period of Revelation
The whole subject matter of the Surah indicates that this too is one of the earliest Surahs to be revealed; but this was the period when the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) had started preaching his message publicly, and the people of Makkah were hearing it and ignoring it carelessly and thoughtlessly.
Theme and Subject Matter
To understand the subject matter well one should keep in view the fact that in the initial stage the preaching of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) mostly centered around two points which he wanted to instill in the people's minds: Tauhid and the Hereafter: and the people of Makkah were repudiating both. Let us now consider the subject matter and the style of this Surah.
At the outset, in order to arouse the people from their heedlessness, they have been plainly asked:"Do you have any knowledge of the time when an overwhelming calamity will descend?" Immediately after this details of the impending calamity are given as to how the people will be divided into two separate groups and will meet separate ends. One group of the people will go to Hell and they will suffer punishment; the second group will go to the sublime Paradise and will be provided with, blessings.
After thus arousing the people the theme suddenly changes and the question is asked: Do not these people, who frown and scorn the teaching of Tauhid and the news of the Hereafter being given by the Qur'an, observe the common things which they experience daily in their lives? Do they never consider how the camels, on whom their whole life activity in the Arabian desert depends, came into being, endowed precisely with the same characteristics as were required for the beast needed in their desert life? When they go on their journeys, they see the sky, the mountains, or the earth. Let them ponder over these three phenomena and consider as to how the sky was stretched above them, how the mountains were erected and how the earth was spread beneath them? Has all this come about without the skill and craftsmanship of an All- Powerful, All Wise Designer? If they acknowledge that a Creator has created all this with great wisdom and power and that no one else is an associate with Him in their creation, why then do they refuse to accept Him alone as their Lord and Sustainer? And if they acknowledge that that God had the power to create all this, then on what rational ground do they hesitate to acknowledge that that God also has the power to bring about Resurrection, to recreate man, and to make Hell and Heaven?
After making the truth plain by this concise and rational argument, the address turns from the disbelievers to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) and he is told: "If these people do not acknowledge the truth, they may not; you have not been empowered to act with authority over them, so that you should coerce them into believing: your only task is to exhort, so exhort them. Ultimately they have to return to Us; then We shall call them to full account and shall inflict a heavy punishment on those who do not believe."
Source: Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Quran