Surah 88 · Meccan · 26 Verses
الغاشية
SURAH AL-GHASHIYAH
The Overwhelming
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بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْغَٰشِيَةِ
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
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وُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَٰشِعَةٌ
[Some] faces, that Day, will be humbled,
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عَامِلَةٌۭ نَّاصِبَةٌۭ
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تَصْلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةًۭ
They will [enter to] burn in an intensely hot Fire.
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تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ ءَانِيَةٍۢ
They will be given drink from a boiling spring.
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لَّيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعٍۢ
For them there will be no food except from a poisonous, thorny plant
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لَّا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِى مِن جُوعٍۢ
Which neither nourishes nor avails against hunger.
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وُجُوهٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ نَّاعِمَةٌۭ
[Other] faces, that Day, will show pleasure.
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لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌۭ
With their effort [they are] satisfied
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فِى جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍۢ
In an elevated garden,
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فِيهَا عَيْنٌۭ جَارِيَةٌۭ
Within it is a flowing spring.
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فِيهَا سُرُرٌۭ مَّرْفُوعَةٌۭ
Within it are couches raised high
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وَأَكْوَابٌۭ مَّوْضُوعَةٌۭ
And cups put in place
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وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌۭ
And cushions lined up
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وَزَرَابِىُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ
And carpets spread around.
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أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?
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وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ
And at the sky - how it is raised?
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وَإِلَى ٱلْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
And at the mountains - how they are erected?
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وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
And at the earth - how it is spread out?
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فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌۭ
So remind, [O Muḥammad]; you are only a reminder.
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لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ
You are not over them a controller.
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إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ
However, he who turns away and disbelieves –
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فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَكْبَرَ
Then Allāh will punish him with the greatest punishment.
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إِنَّ إِلَيْنَآ إِيَابَهُمْ
Indeed, to Us is their return.
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ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُم
Then indeed, upon Us is their account.
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About This Surah
Surah Al-Ghashiyah presents faces humbled by exhausting effort and faces joyful with their striving, then invites reflection on camels, sky, mountains and earth. The Messenger is told to remind rather than compel. The closing places people’s return and final accounting with God, setting a clear limit on religious coercion.
The overwhelming event is introduced through faces rather than a chronological map. Some faces are humbled and exhausted, entering severe conditions; others are radiant, satisfied with their prior striving and welcomed into an elevated garden without empty speech.
The surah then turns from the unseen to visible creation. Readers are asked to look at the camel’s creation, the raised sky, set mountains and spread earth. The questions invite attentive reflection within the audience’s world. They should not be forced into claims that a single animal or geological feature proves every disputed scientific theory.
The Messenger’s role is then defined: remind, for you are a reminder; you are not a controller over them. Those who turn away remain accountable to God.
The ending makes return and reckoning divine responsibilities. This protects both the seriousness of warning and the boundary against coercive control by the preacher.
A useful overview should preserve the chapter’s progression from “Contrasting faces and outcomes” through “Reminder without control.” Revisit 88:1–7 while tracking the themes “Final outcomes reveal the value of striving” and “Garden speech is free of emptiness.” That second pass shows how the surah joins its images, questions and commands rather than presenting isolated slogans. It also gives the reader a clear boundary between Quranic wording and historical, legal or devotional details that require separate sourcing.
Core Themes
- Final outcomes reveal the value of striving
- Garden speech is free of emptiness
- Familiar creation invites reflection
- The Messenger reminds but does not compel
- Return and accounting belong to God
Structure
Verses 1-16: contrasting faces and outcomes — 1-16
This section follows contrasting faces and outcomes across verses 1-16. Read it within Al-Ghashiyah’s complete sequence; the passage does not independently create a private ruling, diagnosis, prediction, punishment power, fixed ritual, or guaranteed worldly outcome.
Verses 17-20: look at familiar creation — 17-20
This section follows look at familiar creation across verses 17-20. Read it within Al-Ghashiyah’s complete sequence; the passage does not independently create a private ruling, diagnosis, prediction, punishment power, fixed ritual, or guaranteed worldly outcome.
Verses 21-26: reminder without control — 21-26
This section follows reminder without control across verses 21-26. Read it within Al-Ghashiyah’s complete sequence; the passage does not independently create a private ruling, diagnosis, prediction, punishment power, fixed ritual, or guaranteed worldly outcome.
Reading Guide
Context-focused reading step 1
Compare the two kinds of faces and their relation to effort. Keep this boundary visible: Do not use the creation questions as unstable scientific proof-texts. Compare the passage with the complete surah before drawing a contemporary, legal, medical, scientific, or devotional conclusion.
Context-focused reading step 2
Treat the creation questions as invitations to observe, not slogans. Keep this boundary visible: Do not erase the anti-coercion boundary in the closing. Compare the passage with the complete surah before drawing a contemporary, legal, medical, scientific, or devotional conclusion.
Context-focused reading step 3
Use 88:21–26 to define the limits of the page’s own religious guidance. Keep this boundary visible: Do not expand afterlife scenes beyond the text. Compare the passage with the complete surah before drawing a contemporary, legal, medical, scientific, or devotional conclusion.
Key Passages
Humbled faces — 1-7
Verses 1-7 address humbled faces. Their placement in Al-Ghashiyah supplies the immediate context; this overview identifies the movement without turning it into a stand-alone legal ruling, clinical diagnosis, current-event prediction, private enforcement authority, fixed recitation formula, or guaranteed worldly result.
Joyful faces — 8-16
Verses 8-16 address joyful faces. Their placement in Al-Ghashiyah supplies the immediate context; this overview identifies the movement without turning it into a stand-alone legal ruling, clinical diagnosis, current-event prediction, private enforcement authority, fixed recitation formula, or guaranteed worldly result.
Camel, sky, mountains and earth — 17-20
Verses 17-20 address camel, sky, mountains and earth. Their placement in Al-Ghashiyah supplies the immediate context; this overview identifies the movement without turning it into a stand-alone legal ruling, clinical diagnosis, current-event prediction, private enforcement authority, fixed recitation formula, or guaranteed worldly result.
Remind, do not control — 21-26
Verses 21-26 address remind, do not control. Their placement in Al-Ghashiyah supplies the immediate context; this overview identifies the movement without turning it into a stand-alone legal ruling, clinical diagnosis, current-event prediction, private enforcement authority, fixed recitation formula, or guaranteed worldly result.
Recitation Note
This editorial draft does not prescribe an exclusive time, repetition count, guaranteed protection, healing, provision or other worldly result for reciting Surah Al-Ghashiyah. Add a devotional-practice note only after the exact hadith collection, canonical numbering, grading and claim wording have been checked and registered.
Interpretation Limits
- Do not use the creation questions as unstable scientific proof-texts.
- Do not erase the anti-coercion boundary in the closing.
- Do not expand afterlife scenes beyond the text.