Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 218 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:218

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱلَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا۟ وَجَـٰهَدُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allāh - those expect the mercy of Allāh. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Even those who believed, left everything and strove for Allah are described as hoping for His mercy, not owed it; and He is Forgiving, Merciful.

A reflection

Hoping, not owed

A man has volunteered at a soup kitchen every Christmas for twenty years. He jokes to his son that he has 'banked enough credit upstairs'. The son laughs, then wonders.

The ayah describes the best of that generation. 'Those who believed, and those who emigrated and strove in the way of Allah'. They had left homes, families and wealth. Then comes the verb: 'they hope for the mercy of Allah'. Not 'they have earned it'. Not 'it is owed to them'. They hope.

The word yarjūn has a picture in its root. The lexicons describe a she-camel near her time, and the rim of a well. Hope is waiting for a good already on its way, with fear beside it, while Allah decides when.

A classical commentator records the background. After the troubled mission at Nakhla, its members asked whether they could hope for the reward of those who strive. This ayah came, and placed them, he says, on the greatest hope.

This is majesty that puts every deed in its place. No amount of sacrifice turns mercy into a wage. The ego wants a balance sheet with a credit at the bottom. The ayah offers something better: the Forgiving, the Merciful, to be hoped in.

Does He need our sacrifices? No. He is free of all need (35:15). Our deeds do not add to Him. They are how we turn towards a mercy we could never purchase.

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.