سُورَةُ عَبَسَ
Surah 80 - Abasa
He frowned
- 42 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 585 of the Mushaf
Abasa opens on a reproach, put without a single name being given: someone frowned and turned away because a blind man was coming to him, while he went out to meet a man who thinks himself in need of nothing. The text cuts in, do not act so again, then says what it is itself: a reminder carried by honoured leaves and by noble envoys. It turns next to man, followed from the drop to the grave and then to the raising, and asks him to look at his food: water poured, earth split, grain, vines, olives, palms. The end announces the Crash, the day each one flees his own, and parts faces in two.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ
The Prophet frowned and turned away
أَن جَآءَهُ ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ
Because there came to him the blind man, [interrupting].
وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُۥ يَزَّكَّىٰٓ
But what would make you perceive, [O Muhammad], that perhaps he might be purified
أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ ٱلذِّكْرَىٰٓ
Or be reminded and the remembrance would benefit him?
أَمَّا مَنِ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰ
As for he who thinks himself without need,
فَأَنتَ لَهُۥ تَصَدَّىٰ
To him you give attention.
وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّىٰ
And not upon you [is any blame] if he will not be purified.
وَأَمَّا مَن جَآءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ
But as for he who came to you striving [for knowledge]
وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ
While he fears [Allah],
فَأَنتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ
From him you are distracted.
كَلَّآ إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌۭ
No! Indeed, these verses are a reminder;
فَمَن شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُۥ
So whoever wills may remember it.
فِى صُحُفٍۢ مُّكَرَّمَةٍۢ
[It is recorded] in honored sheets,
مَّرْفُوعَةٍۢ مُّطَهَّرَةٍۭ
Exalted and purified,
بِأَيْدِى سَفَرَةٍۢ
[Carried] by the hands of messenger-angels,
كِرَامٍۭ بَرَرَةٍۢ
Noble and dutiful.
قُتِلَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَآ أَكْفَرَهُۥ
Cursed is man; how disbelieving is he.
مِنْ أَىِّ شَىْءٍ خَلَقَهُۥ
From what substance did He create him?
مِن نُّطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُۥ فَقَدَّرَهُۥ
From a sperm-drop He created him and destined for him;
ثُمَّ ٱلسَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُۥ
Then He eased the way for him;
ثُمَّ أَمَاتَهُۥ فَأَقْبَرَهُۥ
Then He causes his death and provides a grave for him.
ثُمَّ إِذَا شَآءَ أَنشَرَهُۥ
Then when He wills, He will resurrect him.
كَلَّا لَمَّا يَقْضِ مَآ أَمَرَهُۥ
No! Man has not yet accomplished what He commanded him.
فَلْيَنظُرِ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِهِۦٓ
Then let mankind look at his food -
أَنَّا صَبَبْنَا ٱلْمَآءَ صَبًّۭا
How We poured down water in torrents,
ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا ٱلْأَرْضَ شَقًّۭا
Then We broke open the earth, splitting [it with sprouts],
فَأَنۢبَتْنَا فِيهَا حَبًّۭا
And caused to grow within it grain
وَعِنَبًۭا وَقَضْبًۭا
And grapes and herbage
وَزَيْتُونًۭا وَنَخْلًۭا
And olive and palm trees
وَحَدَآئِقَ غُلْبًۭا
And gardens of dense shrubbery
وَفَٰكِهَةًۭ وَأَبًّۭا
And fruit and grass -
مَّتَٰعًۭا لَّكُمْ وَلِأَنْعَٰمِكُمْ
[As] enjoyment for you and your grazing livestock.
فَإِذَا جَآءَتِ ٱلصَّآخَّةُ
But when there comes the Deafening Blast
يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ ٱلْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ
On the Day a man will flee from his brother
وَأُمِّهِۦ وَأَبِيهِ
And his mother and his father
وَصَٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَبَنِيهِ
And his wife and his children,
لِكُلِّ ٱمْرِئٍۢ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ شَأْنٌۭ يُغْنِيهِ
For every man, that Day, will be a matter adequate for him.
وُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ مُّسْفِرَةٌۭ
[Some] faces, that Day, will be bright -
ضَاحِكَةٌۭ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌۭ
Laughing, rejoicing at good news.
وَوُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌۭ
And [other] faces, that Day, will have upon them dust.
تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ
Blackness will cover them.
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْكَفَرَةُ ٱلْفَجَرَةُ
Those are the disbelievers, the wicked ones.
Key verses of the surah
The first verse: someone frowns and turns away, without the text saying who.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ
The Prophet frowned and turned away
The hinge: the reproach stops and the text points to itself as a reminder.
كَلَّآ إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌۭ
No! Indeed, these verses are a reminder;
The call to look at one's own food, which opens the run of crops.
فَلْيَنظُرِ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِهِۦٓ
Then let mankind look at his food -
The day one flees his brother: the start of a list of close kin left behind.
يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ ٱلْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ
On the Day a man will flee from his brother
What is surah Abasa about?
Of attention wrongly placed, then of what puts it back where it belongs. The text starts by correcting a scene, describes next what it is, and ends by recalling where man comes from, what feeds him, and what he leaves behind.
Who is the blind man in surah Abasa?
The text does not name him. It says only that a blind man came, that he was turned away from, and that he may have been seeking to purify himself or to take a reminder. No other trait is given, and the surah likewise leaves the one reproached unnamed.
What does surah Abasa say about food?
Nine verses, 24 to 32, take it as proof. The text goes back up the chain: water, the earth opened, then eight kinds named one after the other, from grain to pasture. The run closes on a phrase that assigns it to people and to their beasts.
How does surah Abasa end?
With a short scene. A sound is announced, then each one draws away from his kin, named in the order in which they are left, each with enough to occupy him. Verses 38 to 41 describe nothing but faces: some shining, others covered in dust. The last verse names them.
Why is surah Abasa called that?
“Abasa” is the first word of the surah and means “he frowned”. The name therefore comes from verse 1, which opens the reproach of the first ten verses. The text does not say who frowned: the verb is in the third person, and the address turns to “you” at verse 3.
How many verses does surah Abasa have?
Surah Abasa has 42 verses. It stands at number 80 in the order of the Mushaf, which holds 114.
The Arabic text is that of the Mushaf. The summary, the outline and the answers on this page describe the text and how it is built: they are not religious commentary.