Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 25 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:25

وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا۟ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا ۙ قَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَأُتُوا۟ بِهِۦ مُتَشَـٰبِهًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ۖ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ

“And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Straight after the Fire comes news meant to light up a face: gardens, fruit both familiar and new, pure company, and no ending.

A reflection

News that shows on the face

At one secondary school, a call from the school office meant trouble. Parents saw the number and felt their stomachs drop. A detention, a fight, a missing homework streak. Then a new head of year started making a different call. 'Nothing's wrong,' she would begin. 'I just wanted you to know what your son did in class today.' Within a term, parents were picking up on the first ring.

The ayah before this one ended in fire, with people and stones for its fuel (2:24). The very next word is bashshir: give good news. The classical sources explain the word through the body. Bashāra is news whose effect shows on the bashara, the outer skin of the face. It changes colour at the first report. The same root gives tabāshīr al-ṣubḥ, the first light of dawn showing on the horizon.

The commentaries notice a steady habit in the Quran. It rarely warns without also promising, and rarely promises without warning. One classical commentator explains why. Some people are not moved at all by fear, he writes, only by kindness; others are the reverse. So the Book speaks to both.

Another asks who is being told to deliver this news. It could be the Prophet ﷺ. But he prefers a wider reading: anyone who is able to announce it. The matter is so great, he says, that everyone who can carry it should.

There is a lesson here for anyone who leads a team, a class or a household. People who only ever hear warnings learn to flinch. They stop reading your messages, or they read them braced. Announce good news with the same care you give to danger. Say it clearly. Say it in time.

But notice what kind of good news this is. It is not flattery, and it is not given to everyone regardless. It is tied to two things: belief, and deeds done well. True good news is honest about its conditions. That is why it can be trusted, and why it changes a face.

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.