Surah Al-Waaqia 56:18 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

بِأَكْوَابٍۢ وَأَبَارِيقَ وَكَأْسٍۢ مِّن مَّعِينٍۢ

English: with glasses, flagons, and cups of a pure drink

Bengali: পানপাত্র কুঁজা ও খাঁটি সূরাপূর্ণ পেয়ালা হাতে নিয়ে,

Meaning & Reflection

'With goblets, pitchers, and a cup from a flowing spring.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the drink is from 'ma'in' — a pure, ever-flowing spring, not a stagnant store; living water, endlessly renewed at the source. Ask yourself: the pleasures I chase here are drawn from finite stores — a fixed supply that depletes with use, so I must keep refilling, hoarding, worrying it will run out. This verse pictures delight drawn from a *flowing* source that never empties. It names the difference between a pleasure I have to ration and a joy fed by an inexhaustible spring. Am I anxiously guarding shallow, drying reservoirs of happiness — when the reward held out is a joy poured continuously from a source that cannot run dry?

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 Al-Waaqia 56:18:

• 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?