The surah that opens with admonishing the Prophet and refers to him as He [who] Frowned and turned away. While the Prophet was speaking to some unbelieving nobles of Quraysh, hoping to convert them, a blind Muslim man came up to learn from him, but in his eagerness to attract the disbelievers to Islam, the Prophet frowned at him. The Prophet is then reproached and told not to concern himself with the disbelievers. It takes its name from the word “he frowned” (ʿabasa) in verse 1. The surah also deals with the condemnation of man’s ingratitude: man becomes self-satisfied and forgets his origin and his final return to God.The surah is also known as: He Made a Wry Face, He Who Frowned.
1
عَبَسَ وَتَوَلّىٰ
ʿabasa wa-tawallā
He frowned and turned away
2
أَن جاءَهُ الأَعمىٰ
ʾan jāʾahu l-ʾaʿmā
when the blind man approached him.
3
وَما يُدريكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكّىٰ
wa-mā yudrīka laʿallahū yazzakkā
And how do you know,maybe he would purify himself,
4
أَو يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ الذِّكرىٰ
ʾaw yadhdhakkaru fa-tanfaʿahu dh-dhikrā
or take admonition,and the admonition would benefit him!
5
أَمّا مَنِ استَغنىٰ
ʾammā mani staghnā
But as for someone who is self-complacent,
6
فَأَنتَ لَهُ تَصَدّىٰ
fa-ʾanta lahū taṣaddā
you attend to him,
7
وَما عَلَيكَ أَلّا يَزَّكّىٰ
wa-mā ʿalayka ʾallā yazzakkā
though you are not liableif he does not purify himself.
8
وَأَمّا مَن جاءَكَ يَسعىٰ
wa-ʾammā man jāʾaka yasʿā
But he who comes hurrying to you,
9
وَهُوَ يَخشىٰ
wa-huwa yakhshā
while he fears [Allah],
10
فَأَنتَ عَنهُ تَلَهّىٰ
fa-ʾanta ʿanhu talahhā
you are neglectful of him.
11
كَلّا إِنَّها تَذكِرَةٌ
kallā ʾinnahā tadhkiratun
No indeed! These [verses of the Qurʾān] are a reminder
12
فَمَن شاءَ ذَكَرَهُ
fa-man shāʾa dhakarahū
—so let anyone who wishes remember it—
13
في صُحُفٍ مُكَرَّمَةٍ
fī ṣuḥufin mukarramatin
in honoured scriptures,
14
مَرفوعَةٍ مُطَهَّرَةٍ
marfūʿatin muṭahharatin
exalted and purified,
15
بِأَيدي سَفَرَةٍ
bi-ʾaydī safaratin
in the hands of envoys,1Or ‘scribes.’
16
كِرامٍ بَرَرَةٍ
kirāmin bararatin
noble and pious.
17
قُتِلَ الإِنسانُ ما أَكفَرَهُ
qutila l-ʾinsānu mā ʾakfarahū
Perish man! How ungrateful is he!
18
مِن أَيِّ شَيءٍ خَلَقَهُ
min ʾayyi shayʾin khalaqahū
From what has He created him?
19
مِن نُطفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ
min nuṭfatin khalaqahū fa-qaddarahū
He has created him from a drop of [seminal] fluid,and then proportioned him.
20
ثُمَّ السَّبيلَ يَسَّرَهُ
thumma s-sabīla yassarahū
Then He made the way easy for him;
21
ثُمَّ أَماتَهُ فَأَقبَرَهُ
thumma ʾamātahū fa-ʾaqbarahū
then He made him die and buried him;
22
ثُمَّ إِذا شاءَ أَنشَرَهُ
thumma ʾidhā shāʾa ʾansharahū
and then, when He wished, resurrected him.
23
كَلّا لَمّا يَقضِ ما أَمَرَهُ
kallā lammā yaqḍi mā ʾamarahū
No indeed! He has not yet carried outwhat He had commanded him.
24
فَليَنظُرِ الإِنسانُ إِلىٰ طَعامِهِ
fa-l-yanẓuri l-ʾinsānu ʾilā ṭaʿāmihī
So let man observe1 his food:Or ‘consider.’
25
أَنّا صَبَبنَا الماءَ صَبًّا
ʾannā ṣababnā l-māʾa ṣabban
We poured down water plenteously,
26
ثُمَّ شَقَقنَا الأَرضَ شَقًّا
thumma shaqqaqnā l-ʾarḍa shaqqan
then We split the earth into fissures
27
فَأَنبَتنا فيها حَبًّا
fa-ʾanbatnā fīhā ḥabban
and made the grain grow in it,
28
وَعِنَبًا وَقَضبًا
wa-ʿinaban wa-qaḍban
and vines and vegetables,
29
وَزَيتونًا وَنَخلًا
wa-zaytūnan wa-nakhlan
olives and date palms,
30
وَحَدائِقَ غُلبًا
wa-ḥadāʾiqa ghulban
and densely-planted gardens,
31
وَفاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا
wa-fākihatan wa-ʾabban
fruits and pastures,
32
مَتاعًا لَكُم وَلِأَنعامِكُم
matāʿan lakum wa-li-ʾanʿāmikum
as a sustenance for you and your livestock.
33
فَإِذا جاءَتِ الصّاخَّةُ
fa-ʾidhā jāʾati ṣ-ṣākhkhatu
So when the deafening Cry comes
34
يَومَ يَفِرُّ المَرءُ مِن أَخيهِ
yawma yafirru l-marʾu min ʾakhīhi
—the day when a man will evade his brother,
35
وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبيهِ
wa-ʾummihī wa-ʾabīhi
his mother and his father,
36
وَصاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنيهِ
wa-ṣāḥibatihī wa-banīhi
his spouse and his sons—
37
لِكُلِّ امرِئٍ مِنهُم يَومَئِذٍ شَأنٌ يُغنيهِ
li-kulli mriʾin minhum yawmaʾidhin shaʾnun yughnīhi
that day each of them will havea task to keep him preoccupied.
38
وُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ مُسفِرَةٌ
wujūhun yawmaʾidhin musfiratun
That day some faces will be bright,
39
ضاحِكَةٌ مُستَبشِرَةٌ
ḍāḥikatun mustabshiratun
laughing and joyous.
40
وَوُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ عَلَيها غَبَرَةٌ
wa-wujūhun yawmaʾidhin ʿalayhā ghabaratun
And some faces on that daywill be covered with dust,
41
تَرهَقُها قَتَرَةٌ
tarhaquhā qataratun
overcast with gloom.
42
أُولٰئِكَ هُمُ الكَفَرَةُ الفَجَرَةُ
ʾulāʾika humu l-kafaratu l-fajaratu
It is they who are the faithless, the vicious.1Or ‘vicious ingrates.’