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Chapter 80

He FrownedʿAbasa ( عبس )

42 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with admonishing the Prophet and refers to him as He [who] Frowned and turned away. While the Prophet was speaking to some unbelieving nobles of Quraysh, hoping to convert them, a blind Muslim man came up to learn from him, but in his eagerness to attract the disbelievers to Islam, the Prophet frowned at him. The Prophet is then reproached and told not to concern himself with the disbelievers. It takes its name from the word “he frowned” (ʿabasa) in verse 1. The surah also deals with the condemnation of man’s ingratitude: man becomes self-satisfied and forgets his origin and his final return to God.«

The surah is also known as He Made a Wry Face, He Who Frowned

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Ali Unal: IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE ALL-COMPASSIONATE

1
عَبَسَ وَتَوَلّىٰ

Ali Unal

Revealed in Makkah in the early years of Islam, this sūrah of 42 verses takes its name from the verb, ‘ABaSa (he frowned), in the first verse. It stresses that everyone, whatever their family origin or social status, is equal with respect to the communication of God’s Message. It invites people to reflect on some works of God’s Power and warns against the Day of Resurrection.
He (a disbelieving, haughty man) frowned and turned away,