Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:64
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 64 of 96
ءَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُۥٓ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلزَّٰرِعُونَ
Translation
is it you who make them grow or We?
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Is it you who make it grow, or are We the Grower?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the exact line drawn: the farmer sows, but 'az-zari', the One who makes the seed split, sprout, and grow, is God alone. Ask yourself: this is the truth hidden inside all my 'productivity', I sow, arrange, and labour, but the actual growth, the mysterious becoming of life and result, is never in my hands. I take credit for the harvest when all I did was bury a seed and wait. It reframes my whole sense of achievement: my part is the effort; the increase is His gift. Where am I claiming as 'mine' the growth, the success, the healing, the flourishing, that I only ever sowed toward, and that Another silently made grow?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:64 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 56:64 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.