Surah Al-Kahf 18:110
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 110 of 110
قُلْ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ بَشَرٌۭ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَىَّ أَنَّمَآ إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌۭ وَٰحِدٌۭ ۖ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ لِقَآءَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًۭا صَٰلِحًۭا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ أَحَدًۢا
Translation
Say, ‘I am only a human being, like you, to whom it has been revealed that your God is One. Anyone who fears to meet his Lord should do good deeds and give no one a share in the worship due to his Lord.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Say: I am only a man like you, to whom it is revealed that your God is one God. So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work and associate no one in the worship of his Lord.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the whole Surah distilled into its final verse, after the Cave, the gardens, al-Khidr, and Dhul-Qarnayn, everything reduces to two conditions: righteous deeds and pure worship of God alone, undertaken by one who genuinely hopes to meet Him. Ask yourself: the entire Surah, its tests of faith by persecution, wealth, hidden decree, and power, lands here, on a formula simple enough for a child and demanding enough for a lifetime: do good, and worship God alone, because you long to meet Him. Notice the two failures it guards against, the very ones the Surah illustrated: dead, foundationless deeds ('let him do righteous work') and hidden shirk, the self-reliant pride of the garden-owner ('associate none in worship'). If my whole life were weighed against this one verse, righteous action, sincere and unshared devotion, driven by hope of meeting Him, how would it measure? This is the Surah's parting gift: not complexity, but a clear path home.
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:110 is discussed in 24 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
- Hope (Raja) (key verse)
- Worship (Ibadah) (key verse)
- Ostentation (Riya) (key verse)
- Idolatry (Shirk) (key verse)
- Hellfire (Nar)
- Prophethood (Nubuwwah)
- Deeds (Amal)
- Excellence (Ihsan)
- Sincerity (Ikhlas)
- Reconciliation (Islah)
- Manliness (Rujulah)
- Righteousness (Birr)
- Blind Following (Taqlid)
- Striving (Jihad)
- Accountability (Hisab)
- Supplication (Dua)
- Walking (Masy)
- Sovereignty (Mulk)
- The Face (Wajh)
- Obstructing Guidance (Sadd)
- Uprightness (Salah)
- Food (Ta'am)
- Purity (Taharah)
- Reproach (Itab)
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Kahf 18:110 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.