Tafseer of The Overwhelming · Al-Ghaashiya · 88:1
Has there reached you the report of the Overwhelming [event]?
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 statement concerning the explanation of His word, exalted is He: هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("Has the tiding of the Overwhelming [al-ghāshiya] reached you?") (1)
Allah, exalted is His mention, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: هَلْ أَتَاكَ ("Has it reached you"), O Muḥammad, حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("the tiding of the Overwhelming [al-ghāshiya]") — that is to say: her account and her tiding.
The exegetes differ concerning the meaning of al-ghāshiya. Some of them said: it is the Resurrection, which overwhelms the people with terrors.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: الْغَاشِيَةِ ("the Overwhelming") is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection; Allah has made it tremendous and warned His servants of it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("Has the tiding of the Overwhelming reached you?"), he said: al-ghāshiya is the Hour.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("Has the tiding of the Overwhelming reached you?"), he said: the Hour.
And others said: no, al-ghāshiya is the Fire that overwhelms the faces of the unbelievers.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His word: هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("Has the tiding of the Overwhelming reached you?"), he said: the covering of the Fire.
The correct view concerning this is that one says: Allah said to His prophet ﷺ هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْغَاشِيَةِ ("Has the tiding of the Overwhelming reached you?"), and He did not inform us that He intended the covering of the Resurrection, nor that He intended the covering of the Fire. Both are a ghāshiya: this one overwhelms the people with trial, terrors, and distresses, and that one overwhelms the unbelievers with the scorching of the faces, with the lashing of the flames and the molten copper. There is therefore no statement concerning this more correct than that one says as He, exalted is His praise, has said, and that one keeps the tiding concerning it general just as He has kept it general.
