Surah Ar-Rahman 55:12
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 12 of 78
وَٱلْحَبُّ ذُو ٱلْعَصْفِ وَٱلرَّيْحَانُ
Translation
its husked grain, its fragrant plants.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And grain in its husk, and fragrant herbs.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the pairing: 'al-habb', grain in its chaff, the staple that feeds, set beside 'ar-rayhan', fragrant plants that simply delight. Provision that sustains, and provision that merely pleases. Ask yourself: Allah could have made sustenance purely functional, enough to keep me alive and no more. Instead, alongside the grain that feeds me, He grew scent and beauty that do nothing but gladden. This verse names both as favours in one breath. When did I last register a fragrance, a flower, fresh herbs, rain on soil, as a deliberate gift, a mercy given not because I needed it to survive but because my Lord wanted me to have delight as well as bread?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
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