Surah Fussilat Ayat 49 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 49
Man is not weary of supplication for good [things], but if evil touches him, he is hopeless and despairing.
Man does not weary of asking for good (things), but if ill touches him, he gives up all hope (and) is lost in despair.
Man wearies not of praying for good, but when evil visits him, he despairs and gives up all hope.
Man (the disbeliever) does not get tired of asking good (things from Allah), but if an evil touches him, then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair.
Man tireth not of praying for good, and if ill toucheth him, then he is disheartened, desperate.
Man does not weary of invoking for charity; and in case evil touches him, then he is constantly despairing, constantly despondent.
Man never tires of asking for good, but if evil touches him he loses all hope and becomes despondent.
بھلائی کے مانگنے سے انسان تھکتا نہیں اور اگر اسے کوئی تکلیف پہنچ جائے تو مایوس اور ناامید ہو جاتا ہے
Quran 41 Verse 49 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Fussilat ayat 49, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(41:49) Man wearies not of praying for good,[65] but when evil visits him, he despairs and gives up all hope.
65. “For good”: For prosperity, abundance of provisions, good health, well-being of children, etc. And man here does not imply every human being for it also includes the prophet and the righteous people, who are free from this weakness as is being mentioned below. But here it implies the mean and shallow person who starts imploring God humbly when touched by harm and is beside himself with joy when he receives the good things of life as most human beings are involved in this weakness, it has been called a weakness of man.
Ibn-Kathir
49. Man does not get tired of asking for good; but if an evil touches him, then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair. 50. And truly, if We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say: “This is due to my (merit); I think not that the Hour will be established. But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely there will be for me the best with Him. “Then, We verily will show to the disbelievers what they have done, and We shall make them taste a severe torment. 51. And when We show favor to man, he turns away and becomes arrogant; but when evil touches him, then he has recourse to long supplications.
Allah tells us that man never gets bored of asking his Lord for good things, such as wealth, physical health, etc., but if evil touches him — i.e., trials and difficulties or poverty —
(then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair.), i.e., he thinks that he will never experience anything good again.
(And truly, if We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say: “This is due to my (merit)…”) means, if something good happens to him or some provision comes to him after a period of difficulty, he says, `this is because of me, because I deserve this from my Lord.’
(I think not that the Hour will be established.) means, he does not believe that the Hour will come. So when he is given some blessing, he becomes careless, arrogant and ungrateful, as Allah says:
(Nay! Verily, man does transgress. Because he considers himself self-sufficient.) (96:6)
(But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely there will be for me the best with Him.) means, `if there is a Hereafter after all, then my Lord will be generous and kind to me just as He was in this world.’ So he expects Allah to do him favors in spite of his bad deeds and lack of certain faith. Allah says:
(Then, We verily will show to the disbelievers what they have done, and We shall make them taste a severe torment.) Thus Allah threatens punishment and vengeance to those whose conduct and belief is like that.
(And when We show favor to man, he turns away and becomes arrogant;) means, he turns away from doing acts of obedience and is too proud to obey the commands of Allah. This is like the Ayah:
(But ﴿Fir`awn﴾ turned away along with his hosts) (51:39).
(but when evil touches him,) means, difficulties,
(then he has recourse to long supplications.) means, he asks at length for one thing. Long supplications are those which are long on words and short on meaning. The opposite is concise speech which is brief but full of meaning. And Allah says:
(And when harm touches man, he invokes Us, lying on his side, or sitting or standing. But when We have removed his harm from him, he passes on as if he had never invoked Us for a harm that touched him!) (10:12)
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