Surah Waqi’ah Ayat 70 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 70
If We willed, We could make it bitter, so why are you not grateful?
Were it Our Will, We could make it salt (and unpalatable): then why do ye not give thanks?
If We had so pleased, We could have made it bitter. So why would you not give thanks?
If We willed, We verily could make it salt (and undrinkable), why then do you not give thanks (to Allah)?
If We willed We verily could make it bitter. Why then, give ye not thanks?
If We had (so) decided, We would have made it bitter; so had you only thanked (Us)!
If We wanted, We could make it bitter: will you not be thankful?
اگر ہماری منشا ہو تو ہم اسے کڑوا زہر کردیں پھر تم ہماری شکرگزاری کیوں نہیں کرتے؟
Quran 56 Verse 70 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Waqi’ah ayat 70, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(56:70) If We had so pleased, We could have made it bitter.[30] So why would you not give thanks?[31]
30. In this sentence an important manifestation of Allah’s power and wisdom has been pointed out. Among the wonderful properties that Allah has created in water, one property also is that no matter what different substances are dissolved in water, when it changes into vapor under the effect of heat, it leaves behind all adulterations and evaporates only with its original and actual component elements. Had it not possessed this property the dissolved substances also would have evaporated along with the water vapors. In this case the vapors that arise from the oceans would have contained the sea salt, which would have made the soil saline and uncultivable wherever it rained. Then, neither could man have survived by drinking that water, nor could it help grow any vegetation. Now, can a man possessed of any common sense claim that this wise property in water has come about by itself under some blind and deaf law of nature? This characteristic by virtue of which sweet, pure water is distilled from saltish seas and falls as rain, and then serves as a source of water-supply and irrigation in the form of rivers, canals, springs and wells, provides a clear proof of the fact that the Provider has endowed water with this property thoughtfully and deliberately for the purpose that it may become a means of sustenance for His creatures. The creatures that could be sustained by salt water were created by Him in the sea and there they flourish and multiply. But the creatures that He created on the land and in the air, stood in need of sweet water for their sustenance and before making arrangement of the rainfall for its supply, He created this property in water that at evaporation it should rise clear and free of everything dissolved in it.
31. In other words, why do you commit this ingratitude in that some of you regard the rainfall as a favor of the gods, and some others think that the rising of the clouds from the sea and their raining as water is a natural cycle that is working by itself, and still others, while acknowledging it as a mercy and blessing of God, do not admit that God has any such right on them that they should bow to Him alone? How is it that while you derive so much benefit from this great blessing of Allah, in return you commit sins of disbelief and polytheism and disobedience of Him.
Ibn-Kathir
The tafsir of Surah Waqiah verse 70 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Waqiah ayat 63 which provides the complete commentary from verse 63 through 74.
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