هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ
HAS THERE COME unto thee the tiding of the Overshadowing Event? (1)
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ
Some faces will on that Day be downcast, (2)
عَامِلَةٌ نَاصِبَةٌ
toiling [under burdens of sin], worn out [by fear], (3)
تَصْلَىٰ نَارًا حَامِيَةً
about to enter a glowing fire, (4)
تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ آنِيَةٍ
given to drink from a boiling spring. (5)
لَيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ ضَرِيعٍ
No food for them save the bitterness of dry thorns, (6)
لَا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِنْ جُوعٍ
which gives no strength and neither stills hunger. (7)
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاعِمَةٌ
[And] some faces will on that Day shine with bliss, (8)
لِسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ
well-pleased with [the fruit of] their striving, (9)
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ
in a garden sublime, (10)
لَا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَاغِيَةً
wherein thou wilt hear no empty talk. (11)
فِيهَا عَيْنٌ جَارِيَةٌ
Countless springs will flow therein, (12)
فِيهَا سُرُرٌ مَرْفُوعَةٌ
[and] there will be thrones [of happiness] raised high, (13)
وَأَكْوَابٌ مَوْضُوعَةٌ
and goblets placed ready, (14)
وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌ
and cushions ranged, (15)
وَزَرَابِيُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ
and carpets spread out.... (16)
أَفَلَا يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ
DO, THEN, they [who deny resurrection] never gaze at the clouds pregnant with water, [and observe] how they are created? (17)
وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ
And at the sky, how it is raised aloft? (18)
وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
And at the mountains, how firmly they are reared? (19)
وَإِلَى الْأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
And at the earth, how it is spread out? (20)
فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُذَكِّرٌ
And so, [O Prophet,] exhort them; thy task is only to exhort: (21)
لَسْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمُصَيْطِرٍ
thou canst not compel them [to believe]. (22)
إِلَّا مَنْ تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ
However, as for him who turns away, being bent on denying the truth, (23)
فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ الْعَذَابَ الْأَكْبَرَ
him will God cause to suffer the greatest suffering [in the life to come]: (24)
إِنَّ إِلَيْنَا إِيَابَهُمْ
for, behold, unto Us will be their return, (25)
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُمْ
and, verily, it is for Us to call them to account. (26)
- DO, THEN, they [who deny resurrection] never gaze at the clouds pregnant with water, [and observe] how they are created?5
- 5 Implying that a denial of resurrection and life in the hereafter renders the concept of a conscious Creator utterly meaningless; hence my interpretation of the words "who deny resurrection" in the first part of this verse. - As regards the noun ibil, it denotes, as a rule, "camels": a generic plural which has no singular form. But one must remember that it also signifies "clouds bearing rain-water" (Lisan al-Arab, Qamus, Taj al-Arus) - a meaning which is preferable in the present context. If the term were used in the sense of "camels", the reference to it in the above verse would have been primarily - if not exclusively - addressed to the Arabian contemporaries of the Prophet, to whom the camel was always an object of admiration on account of its outstanding endurance, the many uses to which it could be put (riding, load-bearing, and as a source of milk, flesh and fine wool) and its indispensability to people living amid deserts. But precisely because a reference to "camels" would restrict its significance to people of a particular environment and a particular time (without even the benefit of a historical allusion to past events), it must be ruled out here, for the Qur'anic appeals to observe the wonders of the God-created universe are invariably directed at people of all times and all environments. Hence, there is every reason to assume that the term ibil relates here not to camels but to "clouds pregnant with water": the more so as such an allusion to the miraculous, cyclic process of the evaporation of water, the skyward ascension of vapour, its condensation and, finally, its precipitation over the earth is definitely more in tune with the subsequent mention (in verses 18-20) of sky, mountains and earth, than would be a reference to "camels", however admirable and noteworthy these animals may be.
- Do they not look at the Camels,6103 how they are made?-
- 6103 In case men neglect the Hereafter as of no account, they are asked to contemplate four things, which they can see in everyday life, and which are full of meaning, high design, and the goodness of Allah to man. The first mentioned is the domesticated animal, which for Arab countries is par excellence the Camel. What a wonderful structure has this Ship of the Desert? He can store water in his stomach for days. He can live on dry and thorny desert shrubs. His limbs are adapted to his life. He can carry men and goods. His flesh can be eaten. Camel's hair can be used in weaving. And withal, he is so gentle! Who can sing his praises enough?
-
Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made?-
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Will they not regard the camels, how they are created?
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Will they not then consider the camels, how they are created?
— M. Habib Shakir -
Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Look they not at the camels, how they are created?
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
What, do they not reflect upon how the camel was created?
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
Do they not look at the camel, how it is created;
— Ayub Khan -
Do they not then look at the camels, how they are created?
— Sher Ali -
DO, THEN, they [who deny resurrection] never gaze at the clouds pregnant with water, [and observe] how they are created?
— Muhammad Asad -
What, do they not consider how the camel was created,
— Arthur Arberry -
Do (these unbelievers) not observe the camels: how they were created?
— Abu'l Ala Maududi