Surah Al-Kahf 18:45
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 45 of 110
وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخْتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلْأَرْضِ فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًۭا تَذْرُوهُ ٱلرِّيَٰحُ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ مُّقْتَدِرًا
Translation
Tell them, too, what the life of this world is like: We send water down from the skies and the earth’s vegetation absorbs it, but soon the plants turn to dry stubble scattered about by the wind: God has power over everything.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Set forth for them the parable of worldly life: like water We send down from the sky, then the earth's vegetation mingles with it, then it becomes dry stubble scattered by the winds. And God is Powerful over all things.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the compressed image of the entire world's glory, a single flush of green after rain, then withered straw blown away. Ask yourself: this is the whole arc of every worldly splendour in one sentence, sudden flourishing, brief peak, then dry debris scattered on the wind. Empires, fortunes, fame, my own vigour and youth: all of it is that one season of green. It is not said to make me despise the green but to keep me from mistaking it for permanent. When I look at anything worldly at its lush peak, including myself, can I already see the 'dry stubble scattered by the winds' it is becoming, and hold it accordingly?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:45 is discussed in 9 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
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