Surah Al-Mulk 67:20 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

أَمَّنْ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِى هُوَ جُندٌۭ لَّكُمْ يَنصُرُكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ۚ إِنِ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ إِلَّا فِى غُرُورٍ

English: What force can help you if the Lord of Mercy does not? The disbelievers are truly deluded.

Bengali: রহমান আল্লাহ তা’আলা ব্যতীত তোমাদের কোন সৈন্য আছে কি, যে তোমাদেরকে সাহায্য করবে? কাফেররা বিভ্রান্তিতেই পতিত আছে।

Meaning & Reflection

'Who is this — an army for you — that would help you instead of the Most Merciful? The disbelievers are in nothing but delusion.' Ibn Ashur and al-Razi note the verse strips away the two things people trusted instead of Allah: their forces and their idols. Against His will, what 'army' actually helps? al-Saadi is blunt: were all creation to gather to aid one servant against Allah, it would not avail him an atom's weight. Ask yourself: I quietly bank on my own 'armies' — savings, status, connections, plans — as if they were ultimate security. This verse doesn't say they're useless; it says they are not what holds the line. When it truly counts, who is my army — and who actually decides the outcome?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Razi, al-Saadi.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Mulk 67:20:

• 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?