Surah Al-Waaqia 56:60 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 60 of 96
نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
English: We ordained death to be among you. Nothing could stop Us
Bengali: আমি তোমাদের মৃত্যুকাল নির্ধারিত করেছি এবং আমি অক্ষম নই।
Meaning & Reflection
'We have decreed death among you, and We are not to be outrun.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the sovereignty over the other end of life — 'ma nahnu bimasbuqin', We cannot be outpaced or thwarted: death arrives exactly on His schedule, and no cleverness or power gets ahead of it. Ask yourself: I pour enormous effort into outrunning death — medicine, caution, the quiet fantasy that I might, somehow, be the one who beats the odds. This verse states flatly that the appointment cannot be outrun; He is never overtaken. That is sobering, but it also frees me from an exhausting, unwinnable race. If death is decreed and unbeatable, the wise response is not to sprint from it but to prepare for it. Am I spending my energy trying to outrun the inevitable, or getting ready to meet it well?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Waaqia 56:60:
- 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?