Surah Al-Mulk 67:28
سُورَةُ المُلۡكِ · Meccan · Verse 28 of 30
قُلْ أَرَءَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَهْلَكَنِىَ ٱللَّهُ وَمَن مَّعِىَ أَوْ رَحِمَنَا فَمَن يُجِيرُ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ
Translation
Say, ‘Just think- regardless of whether God destroys me and my followers or has mercy on us- who will protect the disbelievers from an agonizing torment?’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Say: Have you considered, whether Allah destroys me and those with me, or has mercy on us, who then will protect the disbelievers from a painful punishment?' Ibn Ashur notes the deft turn: the deniers taunted that the Prophet and believers would perish too, so the reply concedes it, my fate, life or mercy, is settled with my Lord either way, and flips the real question back: but who secures yours? al-Saadi highlights that the believer's outcome is entrusted to Allah, leaving the unanswered danger squarely on the other side. Ask yourself: I sometimes take strange comfort in 'everyone dies anyway', as if shared mortality cancels the question. It doesn't. My end is a matter between me and my Lord, but this verse asks the harder thing: who, exactly, is protecting me from what comes after?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Mulk 67:28 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-Mulk 67:28 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.