Al-Ghashiyah الغاشية
The Overwhelming Event
Al-Ghashiyah takes its name from one of the Quran's names for the Day of Judgement, "the Overwhelming Event," and opens by describing two opposite crowds it produces: faces humbled, laboring and exhausted, entering a scorching fire and fed only from a bitter thorny plant — set directly against faces joyful, pleased with their striving, in an elevated garden where no idle talk is heard and springs flow freely. The surah then turns outward from that scene to the natural world as evidence available to anyone, asking whether people have looked at how camels were created, the sky raised, the mountains set firm, the earth spread out — ordinary things treated as an argument for reflection rather than a spectacle. It closes by defining the Prophet's ﷺ role precisely: he is a reminder, not one who compels, and the real reckoning belongs to God alone.
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْغَـٰشِيَةِ
Have you heard tell [Prophet] about the Overwhelming Event?
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَـٰشِعَةٌ
On that Day, there will be downcast faces,
عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ
toiling and weary,
تَصْلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةً
as they enter the blazing Fire
تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ ءَانِيَةٍ
and are forced to drink from a boiling spring,
لَّيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعٍ
with no food for them except bitter dry thorns
لَّا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِى مِن جُوعٍ
that neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةٌ
On that Day there will also be faces radiant with bliss,
لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ
well pleased with their labour,
فِى جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ
in a lofty garden,
لَّا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَـٰغِيَةً
where they will hear no idle talk,
فِيهَا عَيْنٌ جَارِيَةٌ
with a flowing spring,
فِيهَا سُرُرٌ مَّرْفُوعَةٌ
raised couches,
وَأَكْوَابٌ مَّوْضُوعَةٌ
goblets placed before them,
وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌ
cushions set in rows,
وَزَرَابِىُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ
and carpets spread.
أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
Do the disbelievers not see how rain clouds are formed 1
وَإِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ
how the heavens are lifted,
وَإِلَى ٱلْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
how the mountains are raised high,
وَإِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
how the earth is spread out?
فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌ
So [Prophet] warn them: your only task is to give warning,
لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ
you are not there to control them.
إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ
As for those who turn away and disbelieve,
فَيُعَذِّبُهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْعَذَابَ ٱلْأَكْبَرَ
God will inflict the greatest torment upon them.
إِنَّ إِلَيْنَآ إِيَابَهُمْ
It is to Us they will return,
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُم
and then it is for Us to call them to account.
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Twenty-six verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"The Overwhelming Event" — one of the Quran's names for the Day of Judgement.
That he is sent as a reminder, not someone empowered to compel belief — the surah states the reckoning itself belongs to God.