An-Naba, "The Great News," is the seventy-eighth surah — 40 verses revealed in Mecca.1 It opens the thirtieth and last part (juz') of the Quran, known as Juz' 'Amma after its first word, and is one of the surahs the Prophet ﷺ named when he was asked why his hair had turned gray.6
What it is about
The surah begins with a question: "About what are they asking one another? About the great news — that over which they are in disagreement. No! They are going to know."2
It answers with a series of signs addressed directly to the listener: "Have We not made the earth a resting place? And the mountains as stakes? And We created you in pairs. And made your sleep [a means for] rest and made the night as clothing. And made the day for livelihood." Above are "seven strong [heavens]" and "a burning lamp"; from the clouds comes "pouring water" to bring forth grain, vegetation and gardens.3
Then the promised Day: "Indeed, the Day of Judgement is an appointed time — the Day the Horn is blown and you will come forth in multitudes." The heavens open, the mountains become "a mirage," and Hell waits for those who "were not expecting an account" — "But all things We have enumerated in writing."4 For the righteous is "attainment," a reward from "the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, the Most Merciful." On that Day the Spirit and the angels stand in rows, speaking only by permission, and "the disbeliever will say, 'Oh, I wish that I were dust!'"5
Why it matters
As the first surah of the part most Muslims memorize first, An-Naba is among the most widely recited passages of the Quran. Its method is typical of the early Meccan surahs: it points to everyday realities — sleep, night, rain, the ground underfoot — as signs of a purposeful Creator, then asks whether such a Creator would leave human life without account. To read An-Naba in Arabic with translations and recitation, open it on Quran.com.