Surah Al-Waaqia 56:76 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 76 of 96
وَإِنَّهُۥ لَقَسَمٌۭ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ
English: a mighty oath, if you only knew-
Bengali: নিশ্চয় এটা এক মহা শপথ-যদি তোমরা জানতে।
Meaning & Reflection
'And indeed, it is a great oath, if you only knew.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the aside — 'law ta'lamun 'azim': were you truly aware of the magnitude of what has just been sworn by, you would grasp how enormous this oath is. Ask yourself: the verse gently rebukes my dullness — I hear 'the stars' and move on, not registering that a cosmos of unimaginable scale and precision has just been invoked. 'If you only knew' names exactly my condition: surrounded by the staggering, and numb to it. So much of my spiritual poverty is not disbelief but *un-awareness* — living amid signs whose weight I never feel. What am I walking past every day — the stars, the order of things, the very words of revelation — whose true magnitude, 'if I only knew', would stop me in my tracks?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Waaqia 56:76:
- Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
- Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
- Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
- Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
- General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?