Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 157 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:157

أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَٰتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُهْتَدُونَ

“Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who said 'we belong to Allah' are answered: covered in His praise and mercy, and named the guided.

A reflection

'Blessings' is too small a word

Most translations give ṣalawāt as 'blessings'. It is not wrong. But some words wear smooth with use. Nobody reads 'Kind regards' at the bottom of an email as kindness any more. 'Blessings' has gone the same way, and readers glide past it as the pleasant ending of a hard passage.

The commentaries slow down here. Ṣalāh from Allah upon a servant, they say, is His forgiveness. It is His praise of that servant, spoken in the highest gathering of the angels. It is His honouring of them, in this world and the next. One commentary adds a picture: the word here carries a bending over someone with tenderness.

That is a long way from 'blessings'. It means: the One you have just said you belong to leans towards you, forgives you, and speaks well of you where the angels hear.

The grammar presses the point. Ṣalawāt is plural: one commentary says it gathers many kinds, praise and forgiveness among them. The ayah says ʿalayhim, upon them, not 'for them': they are pictured covered, immersed in it. And it is min rabbihim, from their Lord, a possessive that signals particular care.

Then comes wa raḥma, and mercy, a second gift beside the first. Then a separate sentence: wa ulāʾika humu al-muhtadūn, and it is they who are the guided.

So it is not one vague blessing. It is three distinct gifts, laid on grieving people by name. Does God 'pray'? Not as we do. The same word that rises from us as asking comes down from Him as forgiveness, mercy and praise.

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.