Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:107
Then do they feel secure that there will not come to them an overwhelming [aspect] of the punishment of Allah or that the Hour will not come upon them suddenly while they do not perceive?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: أَفَأَمِنُوا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمْ غَاشِيَةٌ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ أَوْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ (107)
Abū Jaʿfar said: the Exalted says: do they feel — those who do not acknowledge Allah as their Lord except by ascribing partners to Him in their worship — secure أن تأتيهم غاشية من عذاب الله — that there should come upon them an enveloping (ghāshiya) of the punishment of Allah and His chastisement (ʿadhāb) for their ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk), or that the Hour should come upon them suddenly while they persist in their shirk and their disbelief (kufr) in their Lord, and Allah ﷻ then casts them into His fire for eternity, while they do not know of its coming and its onset.
In similar terms to what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
*Mention of who said that:*
19974 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: أن تأتيهم غاشية من عذاب الله — he said: that which envelops them.
19975 — al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, he said: Shabāba related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: غاشية من عذاب الله — he said: that which envelops them.
19976 — al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shbl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, likewise.
19977 — he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, likewise.
19978 — al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, likewise.
19979 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أفأمنوا أن تأتيهم غاشية من عذاب الله — that is to say: a punishment (ʿuqūba) from the chastisement of Allah.
19980 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: غاشية من عذاب الله — he said: "a ghāshiya — a calamity that envelops them — from the chastisement of Allah."
