Surah Abasa

Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

The Name · Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

✦

The Surah · Abasa

﴾١﴿ عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ

'Abasa wa tawalla

He frowned and turned away.

﴾٢﴿ أَن جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَىٰ

An ja-ahu al-a'ma

Because the blind man came to him.

﴾٣﴿ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّىٰ

Wa ma yudrika la'allahu yazzakka

And what would make you know? Perhaps he might purify himself.

﴾٤﴿ أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ

Aw yadhdhakkaru fa-tanfa'ahu adh-dhikra

Or be reminded, so the reminder would benefit him.

﴾٥﴿ أَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنَىٰ

Amma man istaghna

As for the one who considers himself self-sufficient.

﴾٦﴿ فَأَنتَ لَهُ تَصَدَّىٰ

Fa-anta lahu tasadda

To him you give your attention.

﴾٧﴿ وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلَّا يَزَّكَّىٰ

Wa ma 'alayka alla yazzakka

And there is nothing upon you if he does not purify himself.

﴾٨﴿ وَأَمَّا مَن جَاءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ

Wa amma man ja-aka yas'a

But as for the one who came to you striving.

﴾٩﴿ وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ

Wa huwa yakhsha

And he fears.

﴾١٠﴿ فَأَنتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ

Fa-anta 'anhu talahha

From him you are distracted.

﴾١١﴿ كَلَّا إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ

Kalla innaha tadhkirah

No! Indeed, it is a reminder.

﴾١٢﴿ فَمَن شَاءَ ذَكَرَهُ

Faman sha-a dhakarah

So whoever wills, may remember it.

﴾١٣﴿ فِي صُحُفٍ مُّكَرَّمَةٍ

Fi suhufin mukarramah

In scrolls honored.

﴾١٤﴿ مَرْفُوعَةٍ مُّطَهَّرَةٍ

Marfu'atin mutahharah

Raised and purified.

﴾١٥﴿ بِأَيْدِي سَفَرَةٍ

Bi-aydi safarah

In the hands of scribes.

﴾١٦﴿ كِرَامٍ بَرَرَةٍ

Kiramin bararah

Noble and righteous.

﴾١٧﴿ قُتِلَ الْإِنسَانُ مَا أَكْفَرَهُ

Qutila al-insanu ma akfarah

Cursed is the human, how ungrateful is he!

﴾١٨﴿ مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ

Min ayyi shay-in khalaqah

From what thing did He create him?

﴾١٩﴿ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ

Min nutfatin khalaqahu fa-qaddarah

From a sperm-drop He created him, then proportioned him.

﴾٢٠﴿ ثُمَّ السَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُ

Thumma as-sabila yassarah

Then the way He eased for him.

﴾٢١﴿ ثُمَّ أَمَاتَهُ فَأَقْبَرَهُ

Thumma amatahu fa-aqbarah

Then He caused him to die and placed him in a grave.

﴾٢٢﴿ ثُمَّ إِذَا شَاءَ أَنشَرَهُ

Thumma idha sha-a ansharah

Then when He wills, He will resurrect him.

﴾٢٣﴿ كَلَّا لَمَّا يَقْضِ مَا أَمَرَهُ

Kalla lamma yaqdi ma amarah

No! He has not yet accomplished what He commanded him.

﴾٢٤﴿ فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِهِ

Fal-yanzuri al-insanu ila ta'amih

So let the human look at his food.

﴾٢٥﴿ أَنَّا صَبَبْنَا الْمَاءَ صَبًّا

Anna sababna al-ma-a sabba

How We poured down water in pourings.

﴾٢٦﴿ ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الْأَرْضَ شَقًّا

Thumma shaqaqna al-arda shaqqa

Then We split the earth in splittings.

﴾٢٧﴿ فَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا حَبًّا

Fa-anbatna fiha habba

And caused to grow therein grain.

﴾٢٨﴿ وَعِنَبًا وَقَضْبًا

Wa 'inaban wa qadba

And grapes and green herbs.

﴾٢٩﴿ وَزَيْتُونًا وَنَخْلًا

Wa zaytunan wa nakhla

And olives and date palms.

﴾٣٠﴿ وَحَدَائِقَ غُلْبًا

Wa hada-iqa ghulba

And gardens of dense trees.

﴾٣١﴿ وَفَاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا

Wa fakihatan wa abba

And fruits and grasses.

﴾٣٢﴿ مَتَاعًا لَّكُمْ وَلِأَنْعَامِكُمْ

Mata'an lakum wa li-an'amikum

A provision for you and your livestock.

﴾٣٣﴿ فَإِذَا جَاءَتِ الصَّاخَّةُ

Fa-idha ja-ati as-sakhkhah

Then when the deafening Cry comes.

﴾٣٤﴿ يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ

Yawma yafirru al-mar-u min akhih

The Day a man will flee from his brother.

﴾٣٥﴿ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ

Wa ummihi wa abih

And his mother and his father.

﴾٣٦﴿ وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ

Wa sahibatihi wa banih

And his wife and his children.

﴾٣٧﴿ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنٌ يُغْنِيهِ

Likulli imri-in minhum yawma-idhin sha-nun yughnih

Every one of them will have, that Day, a matter to occupy him.

﴾٣٨﴿ وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّسْفِرَةٌ

Wujuhun yawma-idhin musfirah

Faces, that Day, will be bright.

﴾٣٩﴿ ضَاحِكَةٌ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌ

Dahikatun mustabshirah

Laughing, rejoicing.

﴾٤٠﴿ وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ

Wa wujuhun yawma-idhin 'alayha ghabarah

And faces, that Day, will have dust upon them.

﴾٤١﴿ تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ

Tarhaquha qatarah

Blackness covering them.

﴾٤٢﴿ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ

Ula-ika humu al-kafaratu al-fajarah

Those are the disbelievers, the wicked.

The Tafsir · The Breakdown

What The Surah Means

Overview

Surah Abasa is forty-two verses, chapter 80 — a Meccan surah named after its opening word. The historical incident: the Prophet ﷺ was speaking with leading men of Quraysh, hoping to win them to Islam, when Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum, a blind companion, came seeking instruction. The Prophet ﷺ frowned and turned away. The opening verses of this surah were revealed in correction. For the rest of his life, whenever the Prophet ﷺ saw Ibn Umm Maktum he would honor him with the words: "Welcome to the one for whom my Lord rebuked me."

Four movements. Verses 1–10 deliver the correction: the priority is the sincere seeker, not the powerful disregarder. Verses 11–16 establish the Quran as a universal reminder, in the hands of noble righteous scribes. Verses 17–23 audit the human: cursed for ingratitude despite the divine sequence of nutfah, easing, death, burial, resurrection. Verses 24–32 ground the argument in the food on your plate. Verses 33–42 picture the Day of the deafening Cry and the two faces: bright and laughing, or dust-covered and dark.

He frowned and turned away because the blind man came. The correction is permanent: prioritize the sincere seeker over the powerful disregarder. Look at your food. Look at your origin. Look at the Day when each will have his own matter to occupy him. Two faces. The category is being determined now.

Verses 1–10 · The Correction

He frowned and turned away. The blind man came seeking. The powerful did not. The priorities are reversed.

'Abasa wa tawalla, an ja-ahu al-a'ma: he frowned and turned away because the blind man came to him. The third person pronoun is deliberate. Allah does not address the Prophet directly in the opening; the description is delivered as if observed. The classical scholars note that this is a particularly gentle form of correction, preserving the Prophet's dignity while still delivering it unambiguously.

Wa ma yudrika la'allahu yazzakka: what would make you know — perhaps he might purify himself. The verse pivots from the act to the unseen possibility. The man you turned from might have been the very one in whom tazkiyah would take root. You did not know his interior. You judged by his exterior — blind, poor, of no political consequence — and got it wrong.

Amma man istaghna fa-anta lahu tasadda: as for the one who imagines self-sufficiency, to him you give your attention. Istighna — to consider oneself beyond need. The disease of the Qurayshi elite. The man who imagines he does not need Allah is not the priority. The man who knows he does — even if he is blind, poor, and politically irrelevant — is.

Wa amma man ja-aka yas'a, wa huwa yakhsha, fa-anta 'anhu talahha: the one who came to you striving, and he fears — from him you are distracted. Yas'a (striving) and yakhsha (he fears) are the two qualities of the sincere seeker. Khashya is the specific reverence of one who knows he stands before something far greater than himself. The contrast is total. The verse corrects the asymmetry permanently.

The one who imagined his self-sufficiency: you gave attention. The one who came striving with reverence: you were distracted. Apply this permanently to anyone in a teaching role.

Verses 11–16 · The Quran as Reminder

No! It is a reminder. Whoever wills may remember. In honored scrolls, raised and purified, in the hands of noble righteous scribes.

Kalla innaha tadhkirah, faman sha-a dhakarah: no — it is a reminder. Whoever wills may remember it. Kalla resets. The verse establishes universal access. The blind man has as much right to the reminder as the Quraysh elite. The criterion is willing engagement, not social position.

Fi suhufin mukarramah, marfu'atin mutahharah, bi-aydi safarah, kiramin bararah: in scrolls honored, raised and purified, in the hands of scribes, noble and righteous. The Quran is described from its heavenly origin: honored scrolls, raised in rank, kept pure, carried by angels who are themselves noble and righteous. The dignity of the message is matched by the dignity of its custodians.

The reminder is universal. The custodians are angels. The criterion is willingness. Status in this world does not affect access.

Verses 17–23 · The Audit of the Human

Cursed is the human, how ungrateful. From a sperm-drop. The way eased. Death. The grave. Resurrection. He has not yet accomplished what He commanded.

Qutila al-insanu ma akfarah: cursed is the human, how ungrateful is he. Qutila is an expression of strong condemnation. Ma akfarah — how intense is his ingratitude. The verse names the underlying disposition that produced the istighna of the powerful and the dismissal of the sincere.

Min nutfatin khalaqahu fa-qaddarah: from a sperm-drop He created him, then proportioned him. The origin is named in its concrete biological humility. From this came the man who imagines self-sufficiency. The contrast between origin and posture is the diagnostic.

Thumma as-sabila yassarah: then the way He eased for him. The same root as the yusra of Al-Layl and Al-A'la. The path of life was made walkable. The capacities required were provided.

Thumma amatahu fa-aqbarah, thumma idha sha-a ansharah: then He caused him to die and placed him in a grave; then when He wills, He will resurrect him. Five stages of divine action: creation, easing, death, burial, resurrection. Each is the work of Allah. The human is the recipient throughout.

Kalla lamma yaqdi ma amarah: no — he has not yet accomplished what He commanded him. The verdict on the trajectory. After all this favor, the human has not yet fulfilled the obligation. The verse is a corrective on any sense of completion.

Verses 24–32 · Look at Your Food

The water poured. The earth split. The grain. The grapes. The olives. The date palms. Provision for you and your livestock.

Fal-yanzuri al-insanu ila ta'amih: let the human look at his food. The argument is grounded in the most familiar object: what you ate today. The verse traces the food back through the chain of causes — the splitting of the earth, the pouring of the water, the sprouting of the grain.

The implicit argument: the One who arranged this elaborate system of food production for your sustenance is the One you are commanded to worship. The same One who arranged your nutfah-to-human development arranges your daily food. The ungrateful human of verse 17 has been receiving all of this without acknowledging the Source.

Look at your food. All of it. For you and for the animals that feed you. The Source is the One you have failed to thank.

Verses 33–42 · The Day and the Two Faces

The deafening Cry. Each flees his own. Two faces: bright and laughing, or dust-covered and dark. The disbelievers, the wicked.

Fa-idha ja-ati as-sakhkhah: when the deafening Cry comes. As-sakhkhah is the Cry of the Day of Judgment, the sound that overwhelms hearing. The arrival of the Day is announced by this sound.

Yawma yafirru al-mar-u min akhih, wa ummihi wa abih, wa sahibatihi wa banih: the Day a man will flee from his brother, his mother and father, his wife and children. The closest relations are listed. On that Day, even these connections offer no refuge. Each has his own matter.

Likulli imri-in minhum yawma-idhin sha-nun yughnih: every one of them will have, that Day, a matter to occupy him. Yughnih — sufficient to occupy him entirely. Your own accounting will consume your full attention. There is no surplus for anyone else.

Wujuhun yawma-idhin musfirah, dahikatun mustabshirah: faces, that Day, bright, laughing, rejoicing. The category of those welcomed. The interior state has expressed itself as visible radiance.

Wa wujuhun yawma-idhin 'alayha ghabarah, tarhaquha qatarah, ula-ika humu al-kafaratu al-fajarah: and faces, that Day, with dust upon them, blackness covering them — those are the disbelievers, the wicked. Ghabarah is the dust of grief. Qatarah is the spreading darkness. The same al-fujjar we met in Al-Mutaffifin and Al-Infitar.

Each man flees his own. Each has his own matter. Two faces only: bright and laughing, or dust-covered and dark. The category determined now.

Structural Summary

Forty-Two Verses. The Correction Stands.

Verses 1–10The CorrectionThe Prophet frowned at the blind seeker while attending the powerful; the priorities are reversed permanently.

Verses 11–16The ReminderThe Quran is universal — honored scrolls, raised and purified, in the hands of noble righteous scribes.

Verses 17–23The AuditCursed for ingratitude. Nutfah, easing, death, burial, resurrection — yet he has not fulfilled what was commanded.

Verses 24–32The FoodLook at your plate. The water poured, the earth split, the grain, the olives, the date palms — all from the Source.

Verses 33–42The DayThe deafening Cry. Each flees his own. Two faces only: bright and laughing, or dust-covered and dark.

Why This Surah Is For You

Abasa is the surah for anyone in a position to teach, lead, advise, or allocate attention. Verses 1–10 install the permanent priority: the sincere seeker, however small, over the powerful disregarder, however large. Apply this to your inbox, your DMs, your team, your students, your audience. Most of the misallocations of your attention are corrected by this single principle.

Verses 17–23 are worth carrying as a daily acknowledgment of the trajectory of divine favor on you. From nutfah. Through development. Through the easing of the way. Toward death. Through the grave. Toward resurrection. The man who carries this trajectory in his chest does not develop the istighna disposition, because his entire existence is visible to him as the gift it actually is.

Use verse 37 as the long-term clarification on what the Day will require. Your own preparation. Not the network. Not the wife. Not the children. None of these are the safety net on the Day. The safety net is what is between you and your Lord, individually, accumulated through your own choices.

The Practice · Daily Integration

Forty-Two Verses. The Right Priority.

Seven verses per day spoken aloud — installed by week's end. Pair Abasa with At-Takwir (81), its neighbor in the mushaf and a sister in the picture of the Day.

Carry verses 1–10 as the standing correction. Before you respond to the powerful, ask: who is the sincere seeker I have not yet attended to? Reorder accordingly.

Carry verses 19–22 as the trajectory acknowledgment. Nutfah. Easing. Death. Burial. Resurrection. The full arc is the work of Allah. You are the recipient throughout.

Carry verse 24 — fal-yanzuri al-insanu ila ta'amih — at every meal. Look at the food. Trace it back. The Source is the One.

Carry verses 38–42 as the final picture. Two faces only. Build toward the bright. Avoid the dust.

He frowned and turned away because the blind man came. The correction is permanent. Prioritize the sincere seeker. Look at your food. Look at your origin. Two faces only. The category is being determined now.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen

Verse-By-Verse · Test Yourself

The Quiz

Two questions per verse. Translation and a key Arabic word. Walk through it slow. The goal is comprehension, not speed.

Verses 1–41 / 14

The Verse

عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ ۝ أَن جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَىٰ ۝ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّىٰ ۝ أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ

'Abasa wa tawalla · An ja-ahu al-a'ma · Wa ma yudrika la'allahu yazzakka · Aw yadhdhakkaru fa-tanfa'ahu adh-dhikra

What is the opening correction?