And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them.
“And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them.”
If you - O people - tried to count and list Allah’s many blessings that He has favoured you with, you will not be able to do so because they are so numerous and diverse.
The plain meaning, from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir
وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
What does Quran 16:18 mean?
Surah an-Nahl runs through blessing after blessing — the cattle, the rain, the sea, the mountains, the stars — until this line concedes that the list can never be finished. The ending is the part worth noticing: having said the favours cannot be counted, the verse closes with “Forgiving and Merciful.” The commentators explain the link — He overlooks the thanks we fail to give, and does not withdraw the gift when we fail to give it.
Written from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir