سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ 1
Translations
A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen
Transliteration
Sa'ala sa'ilun bi-'adhaabin waaqi'in
Tafsir (Explanation)
A questioner asked concerning the punishment bound to happen—referring to the Day of Judgment and its inevitable torment. Classical scholars like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir note that this opening directly addresses those who mock the certainty of divine punishment, establishing that the Hereafter and its consequences are absolutely real and will certainly occur. The word 'waaqi' (falling/happening) emphasizes the inescapability and inevitability of this punishment for those who reject faith.
Revelation Context
This surah was revealed in Mecca during the early period of Islam when polytheists and disbelievers questioned and mocked the Islamic teachings about the afterlife and divine punishment. The ayah opens by directly addressing these skeptics, asserting the certainty of the Day of Judgment as a foundational Islamic belief against those who denied it.
Related Hadiths
Sahih Bukhari (Kitab al-Riqaq) contains narrations about the certainty of the Day of Judgment and the descriptions of punishment that reinforce this ayah's meaning. Additionally, the Hadith Qudsi regarding the inevitability of divine justice relates thematically to the concept of 'waaqi' (the befalling punishment).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that the ultimate consequences of our actions are absolute and inescapable, serving as a powerful deterrent against heedlessness and disobedience while encouraging conscious awareness of divine accountability in all our actions.
Related Ayahs
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا رَأَوْا۟ مَا يُوعَدُونَ فَسَيَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ أَضْعَفُ نَاصِرًا وَأَقَلُّ عَدَدًا
[The disbelievers continue] until, when they see that which they are promised, then they will know who is weaker in helpers and less in number.
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِى سَقَرَ
[And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?"
مُهْطِعِينَ مُقْنِعِى رُءُوسِهِمْ لَا يَرْتَدُّ إِلَيْهِمْ طَرْفُهُمْ ۖ وَأَفْـِٔدَتُهُمْ هَوَآءٌ
Racing ahead, their heads raised up, their glance does not come back to them, and their hearts are void.
خَـٰشِعَةً أَبْصَـٰرُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يُوعَدُونَ
Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.