Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:6
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 6 of 96
فَكَانَتْ هَبَآءًۭ مُّنۢبَثًّۭا
Translation
and turn to scattered dust,
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'So they become scattered dust.' al-Biqa'i and Ibn Ashur note the final image, 'haba'an munbaththa', fine motes of dust drifting in the air, the sort you only see in a shaft of light. The mighty mountain reduced to something that floats, weightless and dispersed. Ask yourself: this is the trajectory of everything massive I fear or admire in this world, from towering solidity to drifting specks. It is not said to make me despair but to recalibrate my sense of scale: what looms so large now is, on the true scale, already dust in a sunbeam. If I could see the things that intimidate or seduce me at their real, final size, how much of their power over me would simply evaporate?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Biqa'i, Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:6 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 56:6 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.