diff --git a/lua/lockscreen.lua b/lua/lockscreen.lua
index 28b9ef16..67c1c30e 100644
--- a/lua/lockscreen.lua
+++ b/lua/lockscreen.lua
@@ -20,6 +20,18 @@ local beautiful = require("beautiful")
 
 local lockscreen = {}
 
+-- lgi/cairo is loaded lazily (only when blur is requested) so the
+-- lockscreen still works on minimal systems without it, in plain
+-- color or plain image modes.
+local _cairo
+local function get_cairo()
+    if _cairo ~= nil then return _cairo or nil end
+    local ok, lgi = pcall(require, "lgi")
+    if not ok or not lgi then _cairo = false; return nil end
+    _cairo = lgi.cairo or false
+    return _cairo or nil
+end
+
 -- State
 local initialized = false
 local surfaces = {}  -- keyed by screen
@@ -46,9 +58,191 @@ local defaults = {
     font_large   = "sans bold 48",
     clock_format = "%H:%M",
     date_format  = "%A, %B %d",
-    lock_screen  = nil,  -- screen object or function()->screen; default: screen.primary
+    lock_screen  = false,  -- screen object or function()->screen; default: screen.primary
+    bg_image     = false,  -- path to wallpaper image (covers entire screen, dimmed by overlay)
+    bg_image_overlay = "#000000aa",  -- semi-transparent overlay on top of bg_image (67% opacity)
+    bg_image_blur = false,  -- false | true | number | table | function(surface)->surface; see normalize_blur_spec below
 }
 
+-- Default blur parameters when user passes `true` or just a number.
+local DEFAULT_BLUR_RADIUS = 15
+local DEFAULT_BLUR_PASSES = 3
+
+-- Sanity clamps so a stray `bg_image_blur = 10000` doesn't hang the
+-- lockscreen render with pathological allocations.
+local BLUR_RADIUS_MAX = 100
+local BLUR_PASSES_MAX = 10
+
+local function clamp(v, lo, hi)
+    if v < lo then return lo end
+    if v > hi then return hi end
+    return v
+end
+
+-- Duck-typed check: does this value look like a cairo ImageSurface we can
+-- draw from? Used to validate the return value of user-supplied blur
+-- functions before handing them back into the wibox render pipeline.
+local function is_renderable_surface(s)
+    return type(s) == "userdata"
+        and type(s.get_width) == "function"
+        and type(s.get_height) == "function"
+end
+
+-- Multi-pass bilinear downscale/upscale blur. This is not a true Gaussian
+-- kernel but produces a visually convincing soft blur at negligible cost,
+-- which is ideal for a one-shot lockscreen render. Each pass shrinks the
+-- surface by `scale` and expands back with bilinear sampling; stacking
+-- several passes approximates a Gaussian response.
+local function multipass_blur(surface, radius, passes)
+    if not surface then return surface end
+    local cairo = get_cairo()
+    if not cairo then return surface end  -- lgi not installed: no-op
+
+    radius = clamp(tonumber(radius) or DEFAULT_BLUR_RADIUS, 1, BLUR_RADIUS_MAX)
+    passes = clamp(math.floor(tonumber(passes) or DEFAULT_BLUR_PASSES),
+                   1, BLUR_PASSES_MAX)
+
+    local w = surface:get_width()
+    local h = surface:get_height()
+    if w <= 0 or h <= 0 then return surface end
+
+    -- Scale factor per pass: larger radius ⇒ more aggressive downscale.
+    -- Divide by `passes` so multi-pass and single-pass roughly agree on
+    -- perceived blur strength.
+    local scale = math.max(2, radius / passes)
+
+    local current = surface
+    for _ = 1, passes do
+        local sw = math.max(1, math.floor(w / scale))
+        local sh = math.max(1, math.floor(h / scale))
+
+        local small = cairo.ImageSurface.create(cairo.Format.ARGB32, sw, sh)
+        local cr = cairo.Context(small)
+        cr:scale(sw / w, sh / h)
+        local down_pat = cairo.Pattern.create_for_surface(current)
+        down_pat:set_filter(cairo.Filter.GOOD)
+        cr:set_source(down_pat)
+        cr:paint()
+
+        local expanded = cairo.ImageSurface.create(cairo.Format.ARGB32, w, h)
+        local cr2 = cairo.Context(expanded)
+        cr2:scale(w / sw, h / sh)
+        local up_pat = cairo.Pattern.create_for_surface(small)
+        up_pat:set_filter(cairo.Filter.GOOD)
+        cr2:set_source(up_pat)
+        cr2:paint()
+
+        -- Explicitly finish intermediates. `:finish()` releases the cairo
+        -- surface's backing memory synchronously (instead of waiting for
+        -- Lua GC to run the LGI __gc metamethod). We must NOT finish the
+        -- caller's original `surface` — only intermediates we allocated.
+        small:finish()
+        if current ~= surface then
+            current:finish()
+        end
+
+        current = expanded
+    end
+    return current
+end
+
+-- Normalize any user-supplied blur spec into a concrete transform function.
+-- Accepted forms (permissive on purpose — somewm is used by programmers
+-- who expect APIs to "do the right thing"):
+--
+--   false | nil                     -- no blur
+--   true                            -- default blur (radius=15, passes=3)
+--   <number>                        -- radius, default passes
+--   { radius = N, passes = M }      -- explicit control
+--   function(surface) -> surface    -- fully custom transform
+--
+-- Returns nil when blur is disabled, otherwise a function(surface)->surface.
+local function normalize_blur_spec(spec)
+    if spec == nil or spec == false then return nil end
+    if type(spec) == "function" then return spec end
+    if spec == true then
+        return function(s) return multipass_blur(s, DEFAULT_BLUR_RADIUS, DEFAULT_BLUR_PASSES) end
+    end
+    if type(spec) == "number" then
+        if spec <= 0 then return nil end
+        return function(s) return multipass_blur(s, spec, DEFAULT_BLUR_PASSES) end
+    end
+    if type(spec) == "table" then
+        local radius = tonumber(spec.radius) or DEFAULT_BLUR_RADIUS
+        local passes = tonumber(spec.passes) or DEFAULT_BLUR_PASSES
+        if radius <= 0 or passes <= 0 then return nil end
+        return function(s) return multipass_blur(s, radius, passes) end
+    end
+    return nil  -- unknown form: silently disable rather than crash lockscreen
+end
+
+-- Cache blurred surfaces keyed by (image path, blur spec signature) so we
+-- don't rerun the blur pipeline per monitor, per rebuild_surfaces(), or per
+-- lock. Misses are cached too (as `false`) to avoid reloading a known-bad
+-- path on every call.
+local bg_surface_cache = {}
+
+local function spec_signature(spec)
+    local t = type(spec)
+    if t == "table" then
+        return string.format("t|%s|%s", tostring(spec.radius),
+                             tostring(spec.passes))
+    end
+    if t == "function" then return "fn|" .. tostring(spec) end
+    return t .. "|" .. tostring(spec)
+end
+
+-- Resolve bg_image to a cairo surface (or nil if not set / failed to load).
+-- When bg_image_blur is set, the surface is transformed through the
+-- normalized blur function before being returned.
+--
+-- The blurred surface is cached for built-in blur specs (true/number/table)
+-- so the pipeline doesn't re-run per monitor or per rebuild. Custom
+-- function specs are NOT cached — user callbacks may close over mutable
+-- state and expect to run each time. Callers who want to force a refresh
+-- (e.g. after swapping the image file at the same path) can call
+-- `lockscreen.invalidate_bg_cache()`.
+local function load_bg_image()
+    if not config.bg_image then return nil end
+
+    local cacheable = type(config.bg_image_blur) ~= "function"
+    local key
+    if cacheable then
+        key = tostring(config.bg_image) .. "|"
+            .. spec_signature(config.bg_image_blur)
+        local cached = bg_surface_cache[key]
+        if cached ~= nil then
+            return cached or nil
+        end
+    end
+
+    local surface = gears.surface.load_uncached_silently(config.bg_image)
+    if not surface then
+        if cacheable then bg_surface_cache[key] = false end
+        return nil
+    end
+
+    local blur_fn = normalize_blur_spec(config.bg_image_blur)
+    if blur_fn then
+        local ok, result = pcall(blur_fn, surface)
+        if ok and is_renderable_surface(result) then
+            surface = result
+        end
+        -- If blur failed or returned garbage we silently keep the original
+        -- surface — a crisp wallpaper is a better fallback than a black
+        -- lockscreen.
+    end
+
+    if cacheable then bg_surface_cache[key] = surface end
+    return surface
+end
+
+--- Drop the cached bg_image surface(s). Call this if you swap the wallpaper
+-- file on disk at the same path without changing the config.
+function lockscreen.invalidate_bg_cache()
+    bg_surface_cache = {}
+end
+
 -- Count UTF-8 codepoints in a string (LuaJIT lacks the utf8 library)
 local function utf8_len(s)
     local count = 0
@@ -132,45 +326,57 @@ local function build_interactive_layout()
         widget = wibox.container.constraint,
     })
 
-    return wibox.widget({
+    local ui_content = wibox.widget({
         {
+            {
+                clock,
+                fg = config.fg_color,
+                widget = wibox.container.background,
+            },
+            {
+                date_widget,
+                fg = config.fg_color,
+                widget = wibox.container.background,
+            },
+            {
+                forced_height = 40,
+                widget = wibox.container.background,
+            },
+            {
+                input_container,
+                halign = "center",
+                widget = wibox.container.place,
+            },
             {
                 {
-                    clock,
-                    fg = config.fg_color,
-                    widget = wibox.container.background,
-                },
-                {
-                    date_widget,
+                    status_text,
                     fg = config.fg_color,
                     widget = wibox.container.background,
                 },
-                {
-                    forced_height = 40,
-                    widget = wibox.container.background,
-                },
-                {
-                    input_container,
-                    halign = "center",
-                    widget = wibox.container.place,
-                },
-                {
-                    {
-                        status_text,
-                        fg = config.fg_color,
-                        widget = wibox.container.background,
-                    },
-                    top = 16,
-                    widget = wibox.container.margin,
-                },
-                spacing = 8,
-                layout = wibox.layout.fixed.vertical,
+                top = 16,
+                widget = wibox.container.margin,
             },
-            halign = "center",
-            valign = "center",
-            widget = wibox.container.place,
+            spacing = 8,
+            layout = wibox.layout.fixed.vertical,
         },
-        bg = config.bg_color,
+        halign = "center",
+        valign = "center",
+        widget = wibox.container.place,
+    })
+
+    -- Two-layer structure: wibox.container.background paints bg *under* bgimage,
+    -- so a single layer with bg=overlay + bgimage=wallpaper would put the dim
+    -- beneath the image and it would be invisible. Place the overlay on an
+    -- inner background so it paints *over* the outer's bgimage — children are
+    -- drawn after the parent's bg+bgimage pass.
+    local bg_image_surface = load_bg_image()
+    return wibox.widget({
+        {
+            ui_content,
+            bg = bg_image_surface and config.bg_image_overlay or config.bg_color,
+            widget = wibox.container.background,
+        },
+        bgimage = bg_image_surface,
         widget = wibox.container.background,
     })
 end
@@ -188,14 +394,33 @@ end
 
 -- Create a cover wibox for a non-interactive screen
 local function create_cover(s)
+    local bg_image_surface = load_bg_image()
     local wb = wibox({
         visible = false,
         ontop = true,
-        bg = config.bg_color,
+        -- When bg_image is set, the wibox itself must be transparent so that
+        -- the widget's bgimage + overlay is what the user sees.
+        bg = bg_image_surface and "#00000000" or config.bg_color,
         x = s.geometry.x,
         y = s.geometry.y,
         width = s.geometry.width,
         height = s.geometry.height,
+        -- Two-layer: outer holds bgimage, inner child paints the overlay *on top*
+        -- of it. (background renders bg before bgimage, so a single layer would
+        -- put the overlay under the image — invisible.)
+        -- The inner background has no child widget, so we force its size to
+        -- the screen geometry; otherwise its :fit() returns 0x0 and the
+        -- overlay paints a zero-size rectangle (i.e. doesn't dim anything).
+        widget = bg_image_surface and wibox.widget({
+            {
+                forced_width  = s.geometry.width,
+                forced_height = s.geometry.height,
+                bg = config.bg_image_overlay,
+                widget = wibox.container.background,
+            },
+            bgimage = bg_image_surface,
+            widget = wibox.container.background,
+        }) or nil,
     })
     awesome.add_lock_cover(wb)
     return wb
@@ -258,11 +483,30 @@ function lockscreen.init(opts)
         border_color = "border_color_active",
         error_color  = "bg_urgent",
     }
+    -- Fields where `false` is a meaningful value (disable) rather than
+    -- "unset". Using `or` chaining would silently promote a theme's
+    -- `lockscreen_bg_image_blur = true` over a user's explicit
+    -- `opts.bg_image_blur = false`; resolve these with explicit nil checks.
+    local falsey_valid = {
+        bg_image       = true,
+        bg_image_blur  = true,
+        lock_screen    = true,
+    }
     for k, default in pairs(defaults) do
-        config[k] = (opts[k])
-            or beautiful["lockscreen_" .. k]
-            or (theme_fallbacks[k] and beautiful[theme_fallbacks[k]])
-            or default
+        if falsey_valid[k] then
+            if opts[k] ~= nil then
+                config[k] = opts[k]
+            elseif beautiful["lockscreen_" .. k] ~= nil then
+                config[k] = beautiful["lockscreen_" .. k]
+            else
+                config[k] = default
+            end
+        else
+            config[k] = (opts[k])
+                or beautiful["lockscreen_" .. k]
+                or (theme_fallbacks[k] and beautiful[theme_fallbacks[k]])
+                or default
+        end
     end
     -- Special case: font fallback to beautiful.font
     if not opts.font and not beautiful.lockscreen_font then