Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:83
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 83 of 96
فَلَوْلَآ إِذَا بَلَغَتِ ٱلْحُلْقُومَ
Translation
When the soul of a dying man comes up to his throat
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Then why not, when the soul reaches the throat...' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the sudden shift to the deathbed, 'balaghat al-hulqum', the soul rising to the throat, the final moments when a life is visibly ending and nothing can be done. Ask yourself: the Surah brings me to the one scene I most avoid picturing, the last breaths, the soul at the throat, the point of no return. It does so deliberately, because everything I believe is tested there. All my postponements assume a 'later'; this verse holds up the moment when there is no later left. Bringing that scene close now, while I still have breath, is a mercy, it lets the certainty of that final moment reshape a life that still has time to change. Do I let the reality of my own deathbed inform the choices of my still-living day?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:83 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 56:83 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.