Surah ’Abasa belongs to the Mufassal, by which the Prophet ﷺ was favoured over the other prophets. The Prophet ﷺ recited it in his night prayer, pairing it with Al-Mutaffifin in a single rak’ah, according to the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud narrated by Muslim. It contains a gentle reproach to the Prophet ﷺ about the blind Ibn Umm Maktum, teaches care for the weak among the Muslims and recalls the terrors of the Resurrection.
It belongs to the Mufassal, by which the Prophet ﷺ was favoured over the other prophets, according to the hadith of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa’: “… and I was favoured with the Mufassal.”
It was among the similar surahs (an-naza’ir) that the Prophet ﷺ recited in his night prayer, pairing it with Al-Mutaffifin in a single rak’ah, as Ibn Mas’ud reported.
It opens by guiding the Prophet ﷺ in what he owes to the weak among the Muslims; it praises the sincere believers, however incapable and weak they may be, and warns against neglecting them.
Arabic text, translation, reference and authenticity grade of each hadith.
أتاه رجل فقال: إني أقرأ المفصل في ركعة. فقال: هذًّا كهذ الشعر، ونثرًا كنثر الدقل. ولكن رسول الله ﷺ كان يقرأ النظائر في كل ركعة … ﴿وَيْلٌ لِلْمُطَفِّفِينَ﴾ و ﴿عَبَسَ﴾ في ركعة …
A man came to him and said: “I recite the Mufassal in a single rak’ah.” He replied: “Rushing through it like poetry and scattering it like poor dates! The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to recite similar surahs (an-naza’ir) in each rak’ah … ‘Woe to those who give short measure’ and ‘He frowned’ in one rak’ah …”
Main purpose: To remind the disbelievers who feel no need of their Lord of the proofs of the resurrection.
’Abasa is a Meccan surah, also called “As-Sakhkhah” and “As-Safarah” after two words that occur in it. It is the 80th in the order of the Qur’an and the 23rd in the order of revelation, after An-Najm and before Al-Qadr, and has forty-two verses. According to the commentators, the Prophet ﷺ was inviting leaders of Quraysh to Islam when the blind Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum came asking him to teach him; he turned away from him, and these verses came to reproach him. Afterwards he honoured him whenever he saw him.
The full Arabic text: introduction, virtues, themes, and a study of the chain and authenticity of each hadith.
