Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:60
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 60 of 96
نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
Translation
We ordained death to be among you. Nothing could stop Us
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'We have decreed death among you, and We are not to be outrun.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the sovereignty over the other end of life, 'ma nahnu bimasbuqin', We cannot be outpaced or thwarted: death arrives exactly on His schedule, and no cleverness or power gets ahead of it. Ask yourself: I pour enormous effort into outrunning death, medicine, caution, the quiet fantasy that I might, somehow, be the one who beats the odds. This verse states flatly that the appointment cannot be outrun; He is never overtaken. That is sobering, but it also frees me from an exhausting, unwinnable race. If death is decreed and unbeatable, the wise response is not to sprint from it but to prepare for it. Am I spending my energy trying to outrun the inevitable, or getting ready to meet it well?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:60 is discussed in 5 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 56:60 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.