Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:54
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 54 of 96
فَشَٰرِبُونَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ ٱلْحَمِيمِ
Translation
and drink scalding water,
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And will drink boiling water on top of it.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the compounding torment, the bitter, choking food of Zaqqum washed down not with relief but with 'hamim', scalding water: one torment poured on top of another. Ask yourself: the horror is in the compounding, no relief between sufferings, each 'remedy' making it worse. It is the far end of a road I can already glimpse: the drink taken to soothe the harm that only inflicts more harm, misery answered with what deepens misery. It underscores that a life cut off from God is not a flat neutrality but an accelerating spiral, each attempt at relief adding to the pain. Where am I already 'drinking boiling water' on my troubles, reaching for a cure that is secretly compounding the disease?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:54 is discussed in 7 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 56:54 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.