Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:41
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 41 of 96
وَأَصْحَٰبُ ٱلشِّمَالِ مَآ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلشِّمَالِ
Translation
But those on the Left, what people they are!
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And the companions of the left, what are the companions of the left!' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the third turn, now heavy with dread, 'ashab ash-shimal', the people of the left hand, the ruined. The same grammar that marvelled at the saved now shudders at the lost. Ask yourself: the Surah lays all three destinies before me in turn, the near, the right, and now the left, and refuses to let me imagine there is a fourth, neutral option, a quiet middle where I simply don't have to choose. There are two hands, and I am headed toward one of them. The honest, uncomfortable question the verse forces is not theoretical: given the real, private shape of my life, which hand is it currently building toward?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:41 is discussed in 6 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 56:41 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.