Sūrah Al-Ghāshiyah The Overwhelming: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالغاشيةMakkī 26 versesOverwhelming Day, two group contrast, four creation arguments

Key DisagreementWhat is "al-ghāshiyah" the Day of Judgment or a specific event within it?Identity of eventAl-Ṭabarī: the Day of Judgment as a whole called "overwhelming" because it overwhelms all human concerns with its reality; through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās

Competing OpinionsWho are the "humiliated faces" (88:2–7) polytheists, or all sinners?Scope of humiliationAl-Ṭabarī: polytheists primarily through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās; the description of their food and punishment identifies the disbelievers specifically

MethodologyAnalyzing the four creation arguments as a structured rational sequenceRational argument methodAl-Ṭabarī treats the camel, sky, mountains, earth sequence as a deliberate pedagogical progression from animal to cosmos

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The four creation arguments (88:17–20) "Do they not look at the camels how they were created? And at the sky how it was raised? And at the mountains how they were erected? And at the earth how it was spread?" are analyzed by al-Ṭabarī through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās as a pedagogically structured sequence. He notes the progression: the camel (a familiar domestic animal whose complex creation is overlooked) → the sky (vast and distant) → the mountains (massive and permanent) → the earth (spread beneath them). Each argument builds on the previous, culminating in the totality of the created environment as evidence for divine power.

The camel argument (88:17) is given particular attention by al-Ṭabarī: he traces chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on why the camel is chosen it is the most useful and complex animal of the Arab world, yet most overlooked in terms of its creation. Al-Ṭabarī notes the Quran's argument: those who deny resurrection live with and depend on camels daily the camel's creation from nothing should be as obvious a proof of divine power as the sky or the mountains.

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ A-fa-lā yanẓurūna ilā l-ibili kayfa khuliqat wa-ilā l-samāʾi kayfa rufiʿat "Do they not look at the camels how they were created? And at the sky how it was raised?" (88:17–18) Al-Ṭabarī presents chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on the deliberate pedagogical sequence: from the familiar (camel) to the vast (sky), building the argument for divine creative power.

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin khāshiʿatun ʿāmilatun nāṣibah "Faces that Day will be humbled, laboring and exhausted." (88:2–3) Al-Ṭabarī analyzes "ʿāmilatun nāṣibah" (laboring and exhausted) through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās: these faces toiled in disbelief (or in worship that was rejected) and now labor toward Hell in exhaustion and humiliation.

Camel pedagogy: Al-Ṭabarī's analysis of the camel choice as deliberately familiar-yet-overlooked is one of his more culturally-contextual interpretive observations.
Four-argument sequence: The progression from camel → sky → mountains → earth is analyzed as a deliberate pedagogical sequence, not random examples.
Exhausted laboring: "ʿĀmilatun nāṣibah" (laboring and exhausted) generates chains on whether this describes pre-judgment labor (worship that failed) or the physical labor of Hell.
Ghāshiyah identity: Al-Ṭabarī's chain-based identification of al-ghāshiyah as the entire Day of Judgment "overwhelming" as a descriptive name is consistent with his treatment of other eschatological names.
Reminder role: 88:21's "so remind you are only a reminder" is analyzed through chains as establishing the Prophet's primary role: reminder, not compulsion a fundamental Quranic principle of free choice.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

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