This sūra envisions the fate of two different groups on the Day of Judgment, distinguished by their faces. The two groups experience either reward or painful punishment.

88.1 – Has the story of the Covering come to you?
The Quran poses the question and then proceeds to tell the story. The word covering is associated with punishment on the Day of Judgment in 12.106. The story here is about the downcast faces of those who will face punishment on “that Day” (v. 2), and about the faces that will be blessed (v. 8). The sūra portrays the punishments of hell rather graphically (vv. 4–7) and describes the pleasant rewards of the Garden (vv. 11–16).