Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 19 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:19

أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَـٰتٌ وَرَعْدٌ وَبَرْقٌ يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَـٰبِعَهُمْ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِم مِّنَ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقِ حَذَرَ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ مُحِيطٌۢ بِٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ

“Or [it is] like a rainstorm from the sky within which is darkness, thunder and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps in dread of death. But Allāh is encompassing[14] of the disbelievers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Life-giving rain arrives with thunder and lightning; some hear only danger and plug their ears, yet no one stands outside Allah's encircling.

A reflection

Fingers in the ears, and the wall all round

There is something almost childish about the picture in this ayah. A storm breaks overhead. The people caught in it jam their fingers into their ears against the thunderclaps, for fear of death. As if closing your ears could close the sky.

Then comes the last phrase, quiet and total: wa-Allāhu muḥīṭun bil-kāfirīn. And Allah encompasses the disbelievers. The root pictures a wall built all the way round a vineyard, with nothing inside able to get out. A concise commentary spells it out. They do not escape Him, and they cannot defeat Him.

That is the ego's great illusion in one gesture. We imagine that if we do not hear a thing, it cannot reach us. If we refuse to think about death, we are somehow safe from it. If we block out the warning, the storm will pass us by. The fingers in the ears are a small act of control, and it feels like power. But the one who plugs his ears is still standing in the rain, and the wall is still all round him.

A fair reader may ask whether a God who 'surrounds' people sounds menacing. Does He need to hem us in? One translation adds a careful note. Allah describes Himself with attributes such as encompassing. They are befitting to Him alone, free of human limits, and 'there is nothing like Him' (42:11). His encompassing is knowledge and power, not anxious control. And He is free of all need (35:15). Nothing He surrounds adds anything to Him.

The same encircling that is a threat to the one running away is a comfort to the one who turns towards it. The believer also cannot step outside Allah's reach. That is exactly why he is never lost.

So take your fingers out of your ears. The thunder will not be quieter. But you may hear, underneath it, the rain that was sent to bring you life.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.