Surah Ar-Rahman 55:16
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 16 of 78
فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Translation
Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'So which of the favours of your Lord will you two deny?' Coming right after clay and fire, al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the refrain now presses on the gift hidden inside our very origins: that lowly clay and that flame were shaped into a living, conscious self. Ask yourself: even the humble material I'm made from becomes a favour once I remember what was done with it, mud given sight, hearing, thought, speech, a soul. The gift is not the clay; it is that the clay was made into me. Which favour will I deny, the astonishing one of being formed, from something so ordinary, into someone who can even ask this question? My existence out of dust is itself a mercy I keep overlooking.
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:16 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.