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)
- which gives no strength and neither stills hunger.2
- 2 According to Al-Qiffal (as quoted by Razi), this kind of hellish drink and food is a metonym for utter hopelessness and abasement. As regards the noun dari' - which is said to be a bitter, thorny plant in its dried state (Jawhari) - it is to be borne in mind that it is derived from the verb dara'a or dari'a, which signifies "he [or "it"] became abject" or "abased" (ibid.): hence my rendering of this (obviously metaphorical) expression as "the bitterness of dry thorns". A similarly metaphorical meaning attaches to the expression "a boiling spring" in verse 5, which recalls the term hamim so often mentioned in the Qur'an (see note 62 on the last sentence of 6:70).
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Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Which doth not nourish nor release from hunger.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Which will neither fatten nor avail against hunger.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Which will neither nourish nor avail against hunger.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Which shall neither nourish nor avail against hunger.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
which neither sustains, nor satisfy hunger.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
that neither fattens, nor appeases hunger.
— Ayub Khan -
Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.
— Sher Ali -
which gives no strength and neither stills hunger.
— Muhammad Asad -
unfattening, unappeasing hunger.
— Arthur Arberry -
that will neither nourish nor satisfy their hunger.
— Abu'l Ala Maududi