Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:60 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

هَلْ جَزَآءُ ٱلْإِحْسَٰنِ إِلَّا ٱلْإِحْسَٰنُ

English: Shall the reward of good be anything but good?

Bengali: সৎকাজের প্রতিদান উত্তম পুরস্কার ব্যতীত কি হতে পারে?

Meaning & Reflection

'Is the reward of goodness anything but goodness?' Ibn Ashur and al-Biqa'i note this famous verse states a universal law as a rhetorical question: 'ihsan' — excellence, beauty, doing good beautifully — can only be met with ihsan in return; goodness begets goodness. al-Saadi reads it of God's own way: those who did good beautifully are answered with the beautiful good of Paradise. Ask yourself: I often act as though goodness goes unrewarded — that in a harsh world, integrity is a losing bet and kindness is naivety. This verse names a deep grain in reality that runs the other way: excellence *returns*. Do I truly believe that the good I do beautifully, even unseen and unthanked here, is met by a Lord whose only response to ihsan is ihsan?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:60:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?