Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:39
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 39 of 96
ثُلَّةٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
Translation
many from the past
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'A large company from the former peoples.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the striking contrast with the 'foremost': whereas the front rank had only 'a few' from later generations, the right-hand class has 'a throng from the former', a great multitude. Ask yourself: the ordinary saved are many, in every era. Where the elite summit is rare, the right-hand shore is crowded with the faithful of all times. This is deliberate encouragement: the door to salvation is wide, the company on the right vast. It resists both despair ('I could never make it') and complacency, holding out a realistic, spacious hope. I may not be among the rare foremost, but the multitude of the right hand is exactly the kind of company an ordinary striving believer can hope to join.
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:39 is discussed in 4 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 56:39 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.