Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 160 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:160

إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ وَبَيَّنُوا۟ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنَا ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“Except for those who repent and correct themselves and make evident [what they concealed]. Those - I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of Repentance,[59] the Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Turn back, mend what you broke and bring out what you hid; then Allah speaks to you as 'I', the One who keeps turning back.

A reflection

From 'Allah curses them' to 'I turn to them'

Read the two ayat side by side and listen to the voice change. The ayah before speaks of the concealers from a distance: 'Allah curses them, and those who curse curse them' (2:159). Then someone turns back, and the speech becomes first person. 'I turn to them, and I am the Ever-Relenting, the Merciful.' One later commentary points out the shift into the speaker's own voice. The curse is announced. The forgiveness is given in person.

This is the majesty of the ayah. The One who owns every throne does not delegate His forgiveness. And He calls Himself al-Tawwāb, a form that means doing something again and again. A classical theologian explains it: He accepts the repentance of every repenter, as often as they come.

The ego finds repentance hard because it means saying 'I was wrong' without a 'but'. Pride would rather explain, excuse or quietly move on. Yet here is Allah, who has never been wrong, stooping to say 'I turn to them'. If the Most High bends down to meet the returner, the returner can surely bend down too.

An early commentator glosses al-Tawwāb beautifully. He is the One who turns His servants' hearts back to Him after they had turned away. Even your turning, in other words, is His work before it is yours.

Does this mean He needs us to grovel? No. The same theologian notes that accepting repentance is not something Allah owes. He mentions it in praise of Himself, as a gift. He needs nothing from us (35:15). The repentance is for the one who was lost on the wrong road, not for the One waiting at home.

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.