Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:21
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 21 of 96
وَلَحْمِ طَيْرٍۢ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
Translation
the meat of any bird they like;
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And the flesh of fowl, from whatever they desire.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note again 'mimma yashtahun', provision matched exactly to desire, delicacy given precisely as wished. Ask yourself: notice how insistently the Surah repeats that theme, 'whatever they choose', 'whatever they desire'. It keeps hammering the one thing this life can never guarantee: getting exactly what you want, fully, with nothing withheld and nothing spoiled. The repetition is itself instructive: my chronic dissatisfaction here is not a flaw to be fixed by finally acquiring the right thing, but a signpost that complete satisfaction is kept elsewhere. Am I still trying to wring perfect, desire-matching fulfilment out of a world that keeps, deliberately, holding a little back, so that I keep looking up?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:21 is discussed in 10 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:21 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.