Surah Al-Waaqia 56:64 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

ءَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُۥٓ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلزَّٰرِعُونَ

English: is it you who make them grow or We?

Bengali: তোমরা তাকে উৎপন্ন কর, না আমি উৎপন্নকারী ?

Meaning & Reflection

'Is it you who make it grow, or are We the Grower?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the exact line drawn: the farmer *sows*, but 'az-zari' — the One who makes the seed split, sprout, and grow — is God alone. Ask yourself: this is the truth hidden inside all my 'productivity' — I sow, arrange, and labour, but the actual *growth*, the mysterious becoming of life and result, is never in my hands. I take credit for the harvest when all I did was bury a seed and wait. It reframes my whole sense of achievement: my part is the effort; the increase is His gift. Where am I claiming as 'mine' the growth — the success, the healing, the flourishing — that I only ever *sowed toward*, and that Another silently made grow?

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 56:64:

• 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?