Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:28
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 28 of 96
فِى سِدْرٍۢ مَّخْضُودٍۢ
Translation
They will dwell amid thornless lote trees
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Among thornless lote-trees.' Ibn Ashur and al-Biqa'i note the precise detail, 'sidr makhdud', the lote whose thorns have been removed: even the single small flaw of an otherwise good tree is taken away. Perfection here extends down to the tiniest discomfort. Ask yourself: this world's goods almost always come with a thorn attached, the good job with the stress, the loved one with the friction, the pleasure with its small sting. I've come to accept the thorn as inseparable from the rose. This verse pictures the good with its thorn removed, the benefit kept, the sting gone. It reveals a care that attends not just to the big blessings but to stripping out the little barbs. What thorns do I assume are permanent fixtures of every good thing, that God is able, and promises, to remove?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:28 is discussed in 8 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 56:28 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.