Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 16 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:16

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

“So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The line returns after clay and fire, and it is not repeating itself: it now asks two families of different stuff about one Lord.

A reflection

The first argument from origin

The first act of arrogance the Quran records was an argument about materials. Told to bow to Ādam, Iblis refused, and gave his reason. I am better than him: You created me from fire, and You created him from clay (7:12).

Now read the last two ayat in that light. He created man from ringing clay; He created the jinn from smokeless flame. Then, at once, the same question to both: so which of your Lord's favours will you both deny? Your Lord, the two of you. One Lord over both materials.

One commentary draws out what the human should learn from the pairing. The human was made from a dense, murky origin; the jinn from a fine and subtle one. Yet it was the human who was given honour. So when he looks at what he was made from, he knows he gained his standing only by the grace of Allah. How, then, can he deny that grace?

That turns every pride of origin inside out. The family name, the country, the colour, the school, the postcode. Every one of them is an argument from material, the same argument Iblis made. And the honour that matters was never in the material at all. It was given.

The second refrain lands on precisely this point. Whatever you were made of, clay or flame, privileged or poor, the favour was not your substance. It was His choice to honour it.

A sceptic might hear a God insisting on gratitude. But He needs nothing from either family (35:15). The question is a cure for the oldest disease in creation. Pride says: I am better because of what I am. The refrain answers: everything you are better for was given.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.