(Revealed before Hijrah)

Context and Subject-Matter
This Surah, like the two preceding it, is among those Chapters which were revealed at Mecca in the very early years of the Call. Noldeke and Muir, besides Muslim scholars, subscribe to this view. Towards the end of the preceding Chapter, the Holy Prophet was told that his duty was confined to conveying the Divine Message to his people. The present Surah opens to deal with the incident of 'Abd Allah ibn Umm Maktum, and proceeds to teach the moral lesson that it is not worldly riches and social status which determine the real worth of a person, but the goodness of his heart and willingness on his part to listen to truth and accept it. It also constitutes an eloquent commentary on the Holy Prophet's regard for the susceptibilities of the poor and oppressed people.

It further says that being the last Divine Message for mankind the Qur'an will be respected and read all over the world and will be protected and preserved. The Surah ends on a note of warning to disbelievers that if they rejected its Message and persisted in opposing the Holy Prophet they will have to face a day of reckoning when misery, shame and ignominy will be their lot. The righteous believers, however, will reside in the “Gardens of Bliss,” their faces beaming with Divine joy and happiness.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[80:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

عَبَسَ وَتَوَلَّى
[80:2] He frowned[3250] and turned aside,

أَنْ جَاءَهُ الأَعْمَى
[80:3] Because there came to him the blind man.

وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكَّى
[80:4] And what makes thee know that he may be seeking to purify himself,[3251]

أَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنْفَعَهُ الذِّكْرَى
[80:5] Or he may take heed and the Reminder may benefit him?

أَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنَى
[80:6] As for him who is disdainfully indifferent.

فَأَنْتَ لَهُ تَصَدَّى
[80:7] Unto him thou dost pay attention,[3252]

وَمَا عَلَيْكَ أَلاَّ يَزَّكَّى
[80:8] Though thou art not responsible if he does not become purified.[3253]

وَأَمَّا مَنْ جَاءَكَ يَسْعَى
[80:9] But he who comes to thee hastening,

وَهُوَ يَخْشَى
[80:10] And he fears God,

فَأَنْتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّى
[80:11] Him dost thou neglect.

كَلاَّ إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ
[80:12] Nay! surely it is a Reminder [3255] —

فَمَنْ شَاءَ ذَكَرَهُ
[80:13] So let him who desires pay heed to it —

فِي صُحُفٍ مُكَرَّمَةٍ
[80:14] On honoured sheets.[3256]

مَرْفُوعَةٍ مُطَهَّرَةٍ
[80:15] Exalted, purified,

بِأَيْدِي سَفَرَةٍ
[80:16] In the hands of writers,

كِرَامٍ بَرَرَةٍ
[80:17] Noble and virtuous.[3257]

قُتِلَ الإِنْسَانُ مَا أَكْفَرَهُ
[80:18] Ruin seize the man! how ungrateful he is![3258]

مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ
[80:19] Of what does He create him?

مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ
[80:20] Of a sperm-drop! He creates him and proportions him;

ثُمَّ السَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُ
[80:21] Then He makes the Way easy for him,

ثُمَّ أَمَاتَهُ فَأَقْبَرَهُ
[80:22] Then He causes him to die and assigns a grave[3259] to him;

ثُمَّ إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْشَرَهُ
[80:23] Then, when He pleases, He will raise him up again.

كَلاَّ لَمَّا يَقْضِ مَا أَمَرَهُ
[80:24] Nay! he has not yet done what He commanded him to do.

فَلْيَنْظُرِ الإِنسَانُ إِلَى طَعَامِهِ
[80:25] Now let man look at his food:

أَنَّا صَبَبْنَا الْمَاءَ صَبًّا
[80:26] How We pour down water in abundance,

ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الأَرْضَ شَقًّا
[80:27] Then We cleave the earth — a proper cleaving —

فَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا حَبًّا
[80:28] Then We cause to grow therein grain,

وَعِنَبًا وَقَضْبًا
[80:29] And grapes and vegetables,

وَزَيْتُونًا وَنَخْلاً
[80:30] And the olive and the date-palm.

وَحَدَائِقَ غُلْبًا
[80:31] And walled gardens thickly planted,

وَفَاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا
[80:32] And fruits and herbage,

مَتَاعًا لَكُمْ وَلأَنْعَامِكُمْ
[80:33] Provision for you and your cattle.

فَإِذَا جَاءَتِ الصَّاخَّةُ
[80:34] But when the deafening shout comes,

يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ
[80:35] On the day when a man flees from his brother,

وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ
[80:36] And from his mother and his father,

وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ
[80:37] And from his wife and his sons,[3259A]

لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنٌ يُغْنِيهِ
[80:38] Every man among them that day will have concern enough to make him indifferent[3260] to others.

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُسْفِرَةٌ
[80:39] On that day some faces will be bright,

ضَاحِكَةٌ مُسْتَبْشِرَةٌ
[80:40] Laughing, joyous!

وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ
[80:41] And some faces, on that day, will have dust upon them,

تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ
[80:42] Darkness will cover them.

أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ
[80:43] Those are the ones that disbelieved and were wicked.

3250.  The verse refers to a well-known historical incident. As the Holy Prophet was engaged one day in a talk with some of the Quraish chiefs about some matters of belief, there came up 'Abd Allah ibn Umm Maktum and thinking that the Holy Prophet's precious time and energy were being wasted on the confirmed leaders of disbelief, he sought to divert his attention and asked to be enlightened on some religious questions. The Holy Prophet disliked the intrusion, and showed his displeasure by turning aside from 'Abd Allah (Tabari & Bayan). While it showed the Holy Prophet's solicitude for the spiritual well-being of the Quraish leaders in that he continued his discourse with them and paid no heed to 'Abd Allah's interruption. the incident constituted also an evidence of his great regard for the tender susceptibilities of the blind man, because he merely turned his face away from him-an act which the latter could not see-and did not say even a word of reproach or disapprobation to him for his inopportune and rash interruption, thus taking scrupulous care not to wound his self-respect and tender susceptibilities. The verse thus throws a flood of light on the very high moral stature of the Holy Prophet; and instead of implying any Divine reproach or rebuke, as some Commentators seem to think, enjoins him and, in reality through him. his followers, to have due regard for the tender susceptibilities of the poor and the humble.

3251.  The pronoun "thee" in the verse may be applied, as is done in the text, to the Holy Prophet and the pronoun "he" to the Quraish leader.

3252. Tasadda la-hu means. he addressed or applied or directed himself or his regard or attention or mind to him or it; he wanted; he inclined towards him or it (Lane).

3253.  The verse constitutes an effective justification of the Holy Prophet's attitude towards 'Abd Allah ibn Umm Maktum. It purports to say that the Holy Prophet was not responsible if the Quraish leader did not benefit by his talk. His attitude of seeming indifference towards 'Abd Allah or of deference towards the Quraish leader proceeded from no consideration of any personal interest. It was solely dictated by the commandments of the Shari'ah about behaving kindly and courteously towards one's visitors.

3254. Verses 6-1 1 are applied to the Holy Prophet, the particle Amma in the 6th verse signifies "how could it be that," i.e., 'it cannot be;' and these verses would be interpreted as: 'How could it be possible that thou shouldst pay attention to him who is disdainfully indifferent and should neglect him who fears God and comes to thee hastening.' But these verses may also be applied to the Quraish leader who, as some Commentators are of the view, frowned and turned aside because there came to the Prophet the blind man. In this case these verses would be understood as having been used ironically and as bringing home to the critics of the Holy Prophet their own state of mind, and not referring to any weakness imputed to the Holy Prophet.

3255. The verse means that the charge of indifference is not correct. Why at all the Holy Prophet should have adopted an attitude of sullen indifference towards a blind man when the Qur'an was meant equally for the rich and the poor? It was not only inconsistent with his own high moral stature but also against human reason to do so. What the Holy Prophet did on the specific occasion was demanded by the situation and, therefore, was the right thing for him to do.

3256.  The Qur'an, being a compendium of all permanent and imperishable teachings embodied in various revealed Scriptures, constitutes, as it were, a collection of all heavenly Books. This is the significance of the words Contained in honoured Books. The verse further says that the Qur'an will be written in the form of a Book; it will be honoured and respected and will be protected and preserved against every kind of interpolation and interference.

3257. As against three prominent characteristics of the Qur'an mentioned in the preceding verses (14, 15) three equally marked qualities of the bearers of its Message have been mentioned in this and the preceding verse. The bearers of the Quranic Message are not only noble and virtuous but they travel far and wide to explain and spread it.

3258.  How ungrateful are disbelievers that they should reject such a great and noble Book as the Qur'an, which has been revealed to raise them from the dust and squalor of moral turpitude to the heights of spiritual glory; if only they should accept its Message.

3259. After its departure from its physical habitat the human soul acquires a new body and an abode according to the nature of the actions which man might have done during his life on earth. That is man's real sepulcher. It is not the pit in which his body is placed by his relatives but an abode of happiness or misery according to his spiritual condition.

3259A. What an alarming picture of the Day of Reckoning!

3260. In time of tribulation and sorrow a man is apt to forget even his nearest relations. He has his own enough troubles to keep him busy.