Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 115 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:115

وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا۟ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“And to Allāh belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face[37] of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is all-Encompassing and Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

East and west both belong to Allah; wherever you turn as He directs, His Face is there, for He is Vast and knows every heart.

A reflection

Every map has itself in the middle

In a school library, a pupil finds three world maps printed in three different countries. Each one has its own country near the centre. On one, the ocean she thought of as 'far away' sits in the middle of the page. She laughs, and then goes quiet. Every map, it seems, is drawn by someone who thinks he is the middle.

The ayah opens with a quiet correction to that pride. 'To Allah belong the east and the west', it says. The east is where the sun rises and the west where it sets. A later commentator explains that naming the two sides stands for owning the whole earth between them. A legal commentator adds that they are named as His in honour, as one says 'the House of Allah'.

A classical theologian draws out something larger. Directions are themselves created. 'East', 'west', 'up' and 'down' did not exist before He made the world. The One who made them is not held inside them. A major commentator puts it plainly in his own note on this ayah. His knowledge encompasses everything, but He Himself is not contained within anything He has created.

That is humbling for the ego. Much human pride is about position: the centre of the map, the head of the table, the corner office. The ayah removes the whole frame. There is no direction that is ours. Every horizon we face already belongs to Him.

He does not need our facing Him, either. He is the Rich, beyond need (35:15). The command to turn to Him is a mercy, giving a scattered creature somewhere to point. The pupil put the maps back. She will not look at a 'middle' quite the same way again.

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.