Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:81
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 81 of 96
أَفَبِهَٰذَا ٱلْحَدِيثِ أَنتُم مُّدْهِنُونَ
Translation
How can you scorn this statement?
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Then is it this discourse that you take lightly?' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the stinging question, 'antum mudhinun': after establishing the Qur'an's nobility, guardedness, and divine origin, God confronts the casual dismissiveness with which people treat it, holding this, of all things, in contempt or indifference. Ask yourself: the verse names a specific sin I may not have noticed in myself, not outright rejection, but taking lightly: the shrug, the half-attention, the treating of divine speech as background noise. It is almost more damning than open denial, because it comes after knowing what the Qur'an is. Do I take this Book lightly, reaching for it last, reading it least, letting it move me least, while giving my full, reverent attention to a thousand lesser things? The question is aimed precisely at that quiet, comfortable disregard.
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:81 is discussed in one study guide 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 56:81 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.