Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 127 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:127

وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ ٱلْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ

“And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing,[42] the Knowing.[43]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Raising the House stone by stone, father and son asked one thing of their Lord, who hears and knows: accept it from us.

A reflection

No name over the door

A new concert hall opens in a northern city. Across the front, in steel letters a metre high, is the name of the man who paid for it. Inside, on opening night, he is photographed beneath his own name.

Now picture two men in a dry valley. One is old, the other young. They are building the House that every believer on earth will turn towards in prayer (2:144). No letters will carry their names across it. As the stones rise, they say only one thing: 'Our Lord, accept from us.'

They ask for nothing more. Not to be remembered, not for the building to be admired. A major early commentator notes that they were not building a home for themselves. It was for everyone who would ever worship Allah there. That is why 'accept from us' makes sense. They were offering it to Him.

Then they give their reason. 'You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.' The same commentator explains: You hear our prayer, and You know what is hidden in our hearts. A major theologian adds that the phrase 'You, You alone' is not an exaggeration. Others hear, but His hearing is so complete it is as if no one else hears at all.

This is what shrinks the ego. We build small things and want our names on them. They built the qibla of the world and wanted only to be accepted. The audience they cared about was One, and He was enough. He needs nothing from them (35:15). The asking was theirs to need.

The man under the steel letters may well be forgotten. The prayer of the two builders is recited every day, around the world, by people who will never know their faces.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.