Surah Ar-Rahman 55:23
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 23 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?' The refrain now rests on the pearls and coral, beauty and wealth lifted out of the sea for human hands. al-Saadi notes even our adornments and treasures are counted here as favours. Ask yourself: the things I prize and display, the beautiful, the valuable, I tend to credit to my own taste or effort in acquiring them, forgetting they were grown somewhere by a power that isn't mine and handed up to me. Which of these will I deny by treating it as simply 'mine'? The refrain refuses the shortcut of pride: even what I earned passed through gifts I did not make.
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:23 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.