سُورَةُ الغَاشِيَةِ
Surah 88 - Al-Ghaashiya
The Overwhelming
- 26 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 592 of the Mushaf
Al-Ghaashiya opens on a question put in the singular: has the report of the Overwhelming reached the one who is listening? What follows forms a diptych. Six verses describe humbled faces, a fire, a boiling spring and a plant that does not feed; nine verses describe faces at ease, a garden where no idle word is said, a spring, then couches, cups, cushions and carpets, listed one by one. The text then changes register and points to four things to look at: the camels, the sky, the mountains, the earth. It ends by bounding the task of the one who reminds, who holds no authority over others, and by saying to whom the reckoning belongs.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْغَٰشِيَةِ
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
وُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَٰشِعَةٌ
[Some] faces, that Day, will be humbled,
عَامِلَةٌۭ نَّاصِبَةٌۭ
Working [hard] and exhausted.
تَصْلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةًۭ
They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire.
تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ ءَانِيَةٍۢ
They will be given drink from a boiling spring.
لَّيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعٍۢ
For them there will be no food except from a poisonous, thorny plant
لَّا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِى مِن جُوعٍۢ
Which neither nourishes nor avails against hunger.
وُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ نَّاعِمَةٌۭ
[Other] faces, that Day, will show pleasure.
لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌۭ
With their effort [they are] satisfied
فِى جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍۢ
In an elevated garden,
لَّا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَٰغِيَةًۭ
Wherein they will hear no unsuitable speech.
فِيهَا عَيْنٌۭ جَارِيَةٌۭ
Within it is a flowing spring.
فِيهَا سُرُرٌۭ مَّرْفُوعَةٌۭ
Within it are couches raised high
وَأَكْوَابٌۭ مَّوْضُوعَةٌۭ
And cups put in place
وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌۭ
And cushions lined up
وَزَرَابِىُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ
And carpets spread around.
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?
وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ
And at the sky - how it is raised?
وَإِلَى ٱلْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
And at the mountains - how they are erected?
وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
And at the earth - how it is spread out?
فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌۭ
So remind, [O Muhammad]; you are only a reminder.
لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ
You are not over them a controller.
إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ
However, he who turns away and disbelieves -
فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَكْبَرَ
Then Allah will punish him with the greatest punishment.
إِنَّ إِلَيْنَآ إِيَابَهُمْ
Indeed, to Us is their return.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُم
Then indeed, upon Us is their account.
Key verses of the surah
The opening verse: the surah enters through a question put in the singular, not a statement.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْغَٰشِيَةِ
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
It opens the run of four things to look at, and moves the surah from description to observation.
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?
The task given to the one who reminds, said in few words and bounded by the next verse.
فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌۭ
So remind, [O Muhammad]; you are only a reminder.
What is surah Al-Ghaashiya about?
About a day on which faces split into two groups, each described at length in turn. The text then leaves that picture to point at ordinary things, before saying what falls to the one who reminds and what does not.
How does surah Al-Ghaashiya describe the Garden?
By a list of objects rather than by an idea: a flowing spring, high couches, cups already set down, cushions lined up, carpets spread. Verse 11 adds what is not heard there, no idle word at all.
How does surah Al-Ghaashiya end?
With six verses that share out the roles. The one who reminds is not to compel; the return and the reckoning are not his to hold. Verse 24 says in between what awaits the one who turns away.
How is surah Al-Ghaashiya built?
In two symmetrical pictures, then a change of register. Six verses for one group, nine for the other; then four questions about visible things, and six verses that close by fixing the roles.
Why is surah Al-Ghaashiya called that?
“Al-Ghaashiya” is the word that closes the first verse; English renders it as “the Overwhelming”. The text does not define it, but everything that follows describes a day on which faces divide in two. The name points to that day through the image of the opening line.
How many verses does surah Al-Ghaashiya have?
Surah Al-Ghaashiya has 26 verses. It stands at number 88 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.