Surah An-naba

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

Most of the verses of the last part of the Qur’an were revealed in Mecca. The nature of these Surahs is that they put emphasis on the Creation and the Resurrection, furnished with glad tidings and warnings; usually in a shocking and awakening tone.

All the verses of the Surahs, except a few, are short and full of implications. For the same reason, they affect, deeply, on any conscious person and they awaken some of the unaware, too. They give spirit to dead‑like people and make the indifferent ones feel responsibility. On the whole, they have a specific case and an enthusiastic world of their own, full of enlightenment and attraction.

Surah Nabaa is not an exception to this general principle. It begins with an awakening question, and ends with a wonderful sentence full of warning.

The contents of the Surah can be divided into several parts:

The question that is stated in the first verse about the

“Great News” /naba’-in-`ażim/

or the Hereafter.

Examples of the types of Divine Power in the Heavens and on Earth, and also of men’s lives and their gifts as evidences to the possibility of the Resurrection and the Hereafter.

Preliminary signs of the Resurrection.

Reference to the painful chastisement of the transgressors.

The encouraging gifts and blessings of Heaven.

Finally, the Surah ends with some intensive warnings about the dreadful punishment, and then, the sad destiny of the Unbelievers.

The name of the Surah, Nabaa, is taken from its second verse, but sometimes it is called /’amma/ which is the first word in the first verse.

The Virtue In Studying Surah Nabaa

There is a tradition from the Prophet (S) which says:

“He who studies Surah Nabaa will be satiated, by Allah, with a cold drink in Heaven”.1

Another tradition from Imam Sadiq says:

“He who continues studying Surah Nabaa, everyday, will meet the Holy Shrine at Mecca (Kaaba) before the year ends”.2

Again, another tradition from the Prophet (S) says:

“He who studies it (Surah Nabaa) and learns it by heart, on the Day of Judgment, his reckoning will be concluded (so quickly) equal to the same length of time it takes to say a single prayer”.