Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:8 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 8 of 78
أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْمِيزَانِ
English: so that you may not exceed in the balance:
Bengali: যাতে তোমরা সীমালংঘন না কর তুলাদন্ডে।
Meaning & Reflection
'So that you do not transgress the Balance.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note how immediately the cosmic Balance becomes a personal command: the harmony God set in the heavens is mirrored by a harmony *you* are told not to violate. The order out there implies an order you must keep in here. Ask yourself: 'transgressing the balance' sounds abstract until I notice how much of wrongdoing is exactly that — taking more than my share, tipping a fair situation in my favour, letting one part of my life swell and crush the rest. This verse ties my small acts of imbalance to a disruption of something cosmic. Where in my dealings, my habits, my relationships am I quietly tipping a scale that was meant to stay level?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Ar-Rahmaan 55:8:
- 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?