AL GHASHIYAH (The Overwhelming Event)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Has the story reached you of that which will overwhelm?
2 Some faces, that day, will be humiliated,
3 Labouring and weary,
4 While they enter the blazing fire,
5 While they are given to drink a boiling hot spring.
6 No food will there be for them but a bitter plant,
7 Which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger.
8 Faces that day will be joyful,
9 Pleased with their striving,
10 In a garden on high,
11 Where they shall hear no idle word;
12 In it will be a bubbling spring:
13 In it will be thrones raised on high,
14 Goblets placed,
15 And cushions set in rows,
16 And rich carpets spread out.
17 Do they not look at the camels, how they are made?
18 And at the sky, how it is raised high?
19 And at the mountains, how they are fixed firm?
20 And at the earth, how it is spread out?
21 Therefore give admonition, for you are one to admonish.
22 You are not one to manage affairs.
23 But if any turn away and reject God,
24 God will punish him with a mighty punishment,
25 For to us will be their return;
26 Then it will be for us to call them to account.
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
- the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎