What does “fabi ayyi aalaaa’i rabbikumaa tukazzibaan” mean (Qur’an 55:13)?
“Fabi ayyi aalaaa’i rabbikumaa tukazzibaan” asks which of God’s blessings the two parties being addressed would call false, and it is a whole verse in Surah ar-Rahman: “So which of your Lord's blessings will the two of you deny?” [Qur’an 55:13]. In Arabic it is «فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ». Word by word: fa-bi-ayyi is “so by which”; ālāʾ is a plural meaning favours or bounties, and the grammarians report more than one singular behind it; rabbikumā is “your Lord” with the possessive in the dual, addressing two parties rather than one or many; and tukadhdhibān is from the root k-dh-b, to lie, in the form that means to treat a thing as a lie, once again in the dual. The spellings people type, fabi ayyi aalaaa’i rabbikumaa tukazzibaan and fabi ayyi ala i rabbikuma tukazziban, both land on this one line.
Searching the phrase by verse reference gives thirty-one answers rather than one. The line runs from verse 13 through verse 77 of the same surah, thirty-one times, and each occurrence sits directly after a blessing has been named. That repetition is the build of the surah: a gift is stated, then the question is put.
The surah names the two who are addressed. The verses just after the first occurrence describe the human being, “created the human being from clay like pottery” (55:14), and then “And the jinn he created from a smokeless flame of fire.” (55:15). Both are called out again later, “Soon we will turn to you, O you two weighty ones.” (55:31), and “O company of jinn and humankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass.” (55:33), and on the day itself “no human or jinn will be questioned about their sin” (55:39). Surah al-An‘am gathers the same two in one address, “Company of jinn and humankind, did messengers not come to you from among yourselves” (6:130).
What comes before the first refrain is a list of what has been given. The surah opens on the name “The Most Merciful” (55:1), who “taught the Qur'an” (55:2), “created the human being” (55:3) and “taught him clear speech” (55:4). Then the ordered world: “The sun and the moon move by precise reckoning.” (55:5), a sky raised and a balance set (55:7) with the instruction that follows from it, “Weigh with justice, and do not fall short in the balance.” (55:9), and an earth “he laid it out for all living beings” (55:10) carrying fruit, palm, grain and fragrant herb (55:11–12). The first “So which of your Lord's blessings will the two of you deny?” arrives at the end of that list.
Commentators differ over how far ālāʾ reaches. The plain reading takes it as the favours just named, and much of the early tafsir glosses the word as niʿam, blessings. Others weigh the placement, since the refrain also follows the passages on the fire and the reckoning, and read ālāʾ as covering God’s acts and displays of power more widely, on the ground that a warning given in time is itself something granted. Both readings are transmitted and the verse does not settle between them. For a position you can rely on, a knowledgeable scholar you trust can take you through the tafsir.
The same question is put once outside this surah, in Surah an-Najm, with a singular address and a different verb: “So which of your Lord's blessings will you dispute?” (53:55). Ar-Rahman itself closes the count twice, first on what remains when everything else is gone, “All who are upon it will perish” (55:26) and “And the face of your Lord will remain, full of majesty and honor.” (55:27), then on the measure the whole surah has been taking, “Is the reward for goodness anything but goodness?” (55:60). It ends on the name it opened with, “Blessed is the name of your Lord, possessor of majesty and honor.” (55:78). Surah an-Nahl gives the reason the question can be asked at all: “If you tried to count God's blessings, you could never number them.” (16:18).
📖 Source: Qur’an 55:1–15; 55:26–27; 55:31; 55:33; 55:39; 55:60; 55:78; 53:55; 6:130; 16:18
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