Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:23 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 23 of 78
فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
English: Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
Bengali: অতএব, তোমরা উভয়ে তোমাদের পালনকর্তার কোন কোন অবদানকে অস্বীকার করবে?
Meaning & Reflection
'So which of the favours of your Lord will you two deny?' The refrain now rests on the pearls and coral — beauty and wealth lifted out of the sea for human hands. al-Saadi notes even our adornments and treasures are counted here as favours. Ask yourself: the things I prize and display — the beautiful, the valuable — I tend to credit to my own taste or effort in acquiring them, forgetting they were *grown* somewhere by a power that isn't mine and handed up to me. Which of these will I deny by treating it as simply 'mine'? The refrain refuses the shortcut of pride: even what I earned passed through gifts I did not make.
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:23:
- Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
- Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
- Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
- Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
- General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?