Surah Al-Waaqia 56:70 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

لَوْ نَشَآءُ جَعَلْنَٰهُ أُجَاجًۭا فَلَوْلَا تَشْكُرُونَ

English: If We wanted, We could make it bitter: will you not be thankful?

Bengali: আমি ইচ্ছা করলে তাকে লোনা করে দিতে পারি, অতঃপর তোমরা কেন কৃতজ্ঞতা প্রকাশ কর না?

Meaning & Reflection

'If We willed, We could make it bitter salt — so why are you not grateful?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the razor-thin mercy: the very same water, by one adjustment, could be undrinkable brine — and the fact that it is *sweet* enough to sustain me is a deliberate, ongoing kindness, sealed with the direct question, 'why not thank?' Ask yourself: I never thank God that my water is drinkable, because I cannot imagine it otherwise — yet the oceans are full of water I cannot drink. The line between the sweet water that keeps me alive and the salt that would kill me is held by Him alone. This verse asks the simplest, most searching thing: given that the drinkability of water is a daily mercy, 'falawla tashkurun' — why not thank? What overlooked, life-sustaining ordinariness have I never once said 'thank You' for?

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 56:70:

• 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?