Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 129 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:129

رَبَّنَا وَٱبْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

“Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might,[44] the Wise."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Ibrāhīm asked the Mighty, the Wise to send his descendants a messenger of their own, to recite, teach and purify; the answer came long after him.

A reflection

A prayer opened at the end of time

A primary school buries a time capsule under its new library. The head writes a letter for it, addressed to pupils not yet born. She will not be there when it is opened. She seals it anyway.

Ibrāhīm asked for a messenger he would never meet. 'Our Lord, raise up among them a messenger from themselves.' An early authority, quoted in a major commentary, says he was told: your prayer is answered, and it will be at the end of time.

The closing names explain why he could ask with such confidence. 'You are the Mighty, the Wise.' A modern commentary explains al-ʿAzīz as the One whom nothing can resist. Al-Ḥakīm is the One who puts everything in its proper place. So the prayer leaves two things to Allah. His might guarantees the answer will come. His wisdom chooses when, where and through whom.

That is humbling. We want to see the results of our prayers and our work. If they do not arrive soon, we doubt they were heard. Ibrāhīm asked for the most important thing he could imagine, and handed its timing entirely to Another. His ego was not in the prayer at all. He did not ask to witness it, to be thanked for it, or to be named in it.

Someone may ask whether a God who must be called Mighty and Wise needs the compliment. The names are not flattery. They are the reason a person dares to ask. A small person asks a great King precisely because He is great. Allah gains nothing from being described; He is free of all need (35:15). The one who knows His might is the one who can rest.

The head teacher's letter is still under the library. Ibrāhīm's has already been opened.

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.