Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 187 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:187

أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمْ ۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَّهُنَّ ۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ ۖ فَٱلْـَٔـٰنَ بَـٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ وَلَا تُبَـٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَـٰكِفُونَ فِى ٱلْمَسَـٰجِدِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقْرَبُوهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ

“It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are a clothing for you and you are a clothing[67] for them. Allāh knows that you used to deceive yourselves,[68] so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allāh has decreed for you [i.e., offspring]. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the night [i.e., sunset]. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allāh, so do not approach them. Thus does Allāh make clear His verses [i.e., ordinances] to the people that they may become righteous.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah knew what was done in the dark and answered with pardon; spouses are each other's garment; His limits are kept well back from.

A reflection

Fully known, and still pardoned

A man posts a photograph of his five o'clock run every morning. Nobody sees the night before: the phone scrolled until two, the same promise to himself broken again. Most of us keep up an image of discipline that is thinner than it looks.

The first Muslims fasting in Madinah lived under a stricter rule than the one we know. Once a fasting person slept, or prayed the night prayer, food, drink and intimacy were closed until the next sunset. Some could not hold to it. In the dark, behind their own doors, they gave way, and told no one.

Then came a sentence that must have stopped them. 'Allah knew that you used to betray yourselves.' Not that He had found out. He had known all along. Every night they thought was private had been open before Him.

The word for betraying, in its root, means diminishing. The lexicons use it for a camel worn thin by journey after journey. They had been quietly wearing down a trust, and the trust was their own souls.

What He did with that knowledge is the surprise. He did not expose them. 'So He turned to you and pardoned you.' Then He widened the night: 'So now…'

This is majesty meeting human weakness. The ego spends great effort managing what others know about us. It is proud of the image and afraid of the gap behind it. Before Allah there is no gap to manage. He already knows the two o'clock version of you.

Does He need us to admit it, to have His knowledge acknowledged? No. He is free of all need (35:15). His knowing is not for His glory but for our rest. The one who knows he is fully known can stop performing, and start returning.

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.