Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 88 Al-Ghashiyah, Ayat 1-26

هَلۡ اَتٰٮكَ حَدِيۡثُ الۡغَاشِيَةِؕ‏ ﴿88:1﴾ وُجُوۡهٌ يَّوۡمَـئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:2﴾ عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:3﴾ تَصۡلٰى نَارًا حَامِيَةً ۙ‏ ﴿88:4﴾ تُسۡقٰى مِنۡ عَيۡنٍ اٰنِيَةٍؕ‏ ﴿88:5﴾ لَـيۡسَ لَهُمۡ طَعَامٌ اِلَّا مِنۡ ضَرِيۡعٍۙ‏ ﴿88:6﴾ لَّا يُسۡمِنُ وَلَا يُغۡنِىۡ مِنۡ جُوۡعٍؕ‏ ﴿88:7﴾ وُجُوۡهٌ يَّوۡمَـئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:8﴾ لِّسَعۡيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:9﴾ فِىۡ جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍۙ‏ ﴿88:10﴾ لَّا تَسۡمَعُ فِيۡهَا لَاغِيَةً ؕ‏ ﴿88:11﴾ فِيۡهَا عَيۡنٌ جَارِيَةٌ​ ۘ‏ ﴿88:12﴾ فِيۡهَا سُرُرٌ مَّرۡفُوۡعَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:13﴾ وَّاَكۡوَابٌ مَّوۡضُوۡعَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:14﴾ وَّنَمَارِقُ مَصۡفُوۡفَةٌ ۙ‏ ﴿88:15﴾ وَّزَرَابِىُّ مَبۡثُوۡثَةٌ ؕ‏ ﴿88:16﴾ اَفَلَا يَنۡظُرُوۡنَ اِلَى الۡاِ بِلِ كَيۡفَ خُلِقَتۡ‏ ﴿88:17﴾ وَاِلَى السَّمَآءِ كَيۡفَ رُفِعَتۡ‏ ﴿88:18﴾ وَاِلَى الۡجِبَالِ كَيۡفَ نُصِبَتۡ‏ ﴿88:19﴾ وَاِلَى الۡاَرۡضِ كَيۡفَ سُطِحَتۡ‏ ﴿88:20﴾ فَذَكِّرۡ ؕ اِنَّمَاۤ اَنۡتَ مُذَكِّرٌ ؕ‏ ﴿88:21﴾ لَـسۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ بِمُصَۜيۡطِرٍۙ‏ ﴿88:22﴾ اِلَّا مَنۡ تَوَلّٰى وَكَفَرَۙ‏ ﴿88:23﴾ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللّٰهُ الۡعَذَابَ الۡاَكۡبَرَؕ‏ ﴿88:24﴾ اِنَّ اِلَيۡنَاۤ اِيَابَهُمۡۙ‏ ﴿88:25﴾ ثُمَّ اِنَّ عَلَيۡنَا حِسَابَهُمْ‏ ﴿88:26﴾

(88:1) Has the news of the overwhelming event reached you?1 (88:2) Some faces2 that Day shall be downcast with fear, (88:3) be toiling and worn-out; (88:4) they shall burn in a Scorching Fire; (88:5) their drink shall be from a boiling spring. (88:6) They shall have no food except bitter dry thorns3 (88:7) that will neither nourish nor satisfy their hunger. (88:8) On that very Day some faces shall be radiant with joy, (88:9) well-pleased with their striving.4 (88:10) They will be in a lofty Garden (88:11) wherein they shall hear no vain talk.5 (88:12) In it there shall be a flowing spring, (88:13) and couches raised high, (88:14) and goblets laid out,6 (88:15) and cushions arrayed in rows, (88:16) and rich carpets levelled out. (88:17) Do (these unbelievers) not observe the camels: how they were created? (88:18) And the sky: how it was raised high? (88:19) And the mountains: how they were fixed? (88:20) And the earth: how it was spread out?7 (88:21) So render good counsel, for you are simply required to counsel, (88:22) and are not invested with the authority to compel them.8 (88:23) But whoever will turn away (from the Truth), (88:24) Allah will chastise him with the most terrible chastisement. (88:25) Surely to Us is their return; (88:26) and then it is for Us to call them to account.

Notes

1. The overwhelming: the Resurrection which will overshadow the whole world. One should know that here the Hereafter as a whole is being depicted, which comprehends all the stages from the upsetting of the present system to the resurrection of all human beings and the dispensation of rewards and punishments from the divine court.

2. Some faces: some persons, for the face is the most conspicuous part of the human body by which man’s personality is judged and which reflects the good or bad states through which man passes.

3. At some places in the Quran, it has been stated that the dwellers of Hell will be given zaqqum to eat; at another place it has been said that they will have no other food but ghislin (washing from wounds), and here that their only food will be thorny dry grass. There is, in fact, no contradiction between these statements. This may as well mean that Hell will have many different compartments in which different categories of the criminals will be lodged according to their crimes, and subjected to different punishments. This may also mean that if they try to avoid zaqqum they will be given ghislin, and if they try to avoid even that, they will only get thorny grass. In short, they would get nothing to suit their taste.

4. That is: they will be overjoyed to see the best results in the Hereafter of their endeavors and deeds in the world; they will be satisfied to see that they had, in fact, made a profitable bargain in that they had adopted a life of faith, virtue and piety, by sacrificing the desires of the flesh, undergone hardships in carrying out their obligations, endured afflictions in obeying the divine commands, incurred losses and suffered deprivation of benefits and pleasures while trying to avoid sins and acts of disobedience.

5. This thing has been mentioned at several places in the Quran as a major blessing of Paradise. (For explanation, see(E.N. 38 of Surah Maryam); (E.N. 18 of Surah At-Toor); (E.N. 13 of Surah Al-Waqiah); (E.N. 21 of Surah An-Naba).

6. That is, filled goblets already supplied so that they do not have to ask for them.

7. That is, if they deny the possibility of the Hereafter, have they never looked around themselves and considered how the camels were created, how the heaven was raised high, how the mountains were firmly set and how the earth was spread out? When all these things could be created, and exist before them in their finished form, why can the Resurrection not take place? Why cannot a new world come about, and why cannot Hell and Heaven be possible? Only a foolish and thoughtless person would think that the coming into existence of only those things which he has found existing, on opening his eyes in the world, is possible, because they already exist. As for the things, which he has not yet observed and experienced, he should thoughtlessly pass the judgment that their coming into being is impossible. If he has any common sense, he should think as to how the things, which already exist, came into being? How did the camel possessing precisely the same characteristics as needed for the beast required by the desert dwellers of Arabia come into being? How did the sky whose atmosphere is filled with air to breathe in, whose clouds bring rain, whose sun provides light and warmth in the day, whose moon and stars shine at night, come into being? How did the earth spread out on which man lives and passes his life, whose products fulfill all his needs and requirements on whose springs and wells his life depends? How did the mountains rise up from the surface of the earth, which stand fixed with earth and stones of different colors and a variety of minerals in them? Has all this happened without the artistic skill of an All-Powerful, All- Wise Designer. No thinking and intelligent mind can answer this question in the negative. Unless it is stubborn and obstinate, it will have to acknowledge that each one of these things was impossible, had not an Omnipotent, Wise Being made it possible. And when an All-Powerful, Wise Being created these things, there is no reason why the Hereafter should be regarded as remote from reason and impossible.

8. That is, if a person does not listen to reason, he may not. You have not been appointed to force the will of the deniers: your only task is to distinguish the right from the wrong for the people and warn them of the consequences of following the wrong way; so this is the task you should continue to perform.