Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 220 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:220

فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۗ وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ ۖ قُلْ إِصْلَاحٌ لَّهُمْ خَيْرٌ ۖ وَإِن تُخَالِطُوهُمْ فَإِخْوَٰنُكُمْ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ ٱلْمُفْسِدَ مِنَ ٱلْمُصْلِحِ ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَأَعْنَتَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

“To this world and the Hereafter. And they ask you about orphans. Say, "Improvement for them is best. And if you mix your affairs with theirs - they are your brothers. And Allāh knows the corrupter from the amender. And if Allāh had willed, He could have put you in difficulty. Indeed, Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Improve the affairs of orphans and share your table with them as brothers; Allah knows the spoiler from the improver, and chose ease over hardship.

A reflection

He knows the one who spoils from the one who mends

After a road accident, two relatives each hold compensation money for an orphaned child. One keeps an immaculate spreadsheet. The other keeps a shoebox of receipts. An auditor would trust the spreadsheet at once.

'And Allah knows the one who spoils from the one who sets right'. A classical commentator explains what He knows. He knows whose aim and intention is ruin, and whose is repair. The spreadsheet may hide a quiet skim. The shoebox may hold years of honest, untidy care.

This is majesty that reaches past paperwork. People judge by what they can see, and the ego loves being judged that way. It polishes the visible record and hopes no one asks about the heart. The ayah removes that hiding place. The intention itself is known.

The word for the spoiler, mufsid, comes from a root pictured as fruit going bad in the bowl. The one who sets right, muṣliḥ, is from a root of mending: a broken thing restored. Allah knows which hand is doing which, even when both hands look busy.

The ayah closes: 'Allah is Almighty, Wise'. A modern commentary explains: mighty in His dominion, wise in His creation, His management and His law. Does He need us to call Him that? No. He is free of all need (35:15). The names are for us, so that we know who is watching the books.

The auditor could only read the spreadsheet. Allah reads the one who kept it.

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.