Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:58
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 58 of 96
أَفَرَءَيْتُم مَّا تُمْنُونَ
Translation
Consider [the semen] you eject-
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Have you considered the fluid you emit?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the argument descends to the most intimate origin, the drop from which a human being begins. Ask yourself: the closest I ever come to 'creating life' is this, and even here, all I contribute is a drop; I neither designed it nor direct what becomes of it. This verse begins dismantling my sense of authorship over my very existence at its root. The one act that feels most like making a life turns out to be a place where my role shrinks to almost nothing. If I did not truly originate even myself or my children, if I only planted a drop and Another did all the making, how much of the mastery I imagine over my life is illusion?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:58 is discussed in 2 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 56:58 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.