Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 269 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:269

يُؤْتِى ٱلْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُؤْتَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِىَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ

“He gives wisdom[108] to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Wisdom is Allah's gift to whom He wills, and whoever receives it has been given much good; only people of the kernel take heed.

A reflection

The grandmother who left school at twelve

A family meets to decide what to do about a feud between two brothers. An uncle with three degrees talks for an hour, with charts. The grandmother, who left school at twelve, says one sentence. Everyone knows at once that she is right.

'He gives wisdom to whom He wills'. The verb is His. Wisdom, in this ayah, is not a qualification. It is a gift.

An early scholar made this observation. You find a man shrewd in worldly affairs, with a keen eye for them. You find another weak in worldly matters, yet clear-sighted in his religion. Allah gives it to this one and withholds it from that one. Wisdom, he concluded, is something Allah places in hearts from His mercy and favour.

That is humbling for anyone proud of their mind. We tend to assume wisdom follows intelligence, education or experience. Those things help. But the ayah locates the source elsewhere. A brilliant person can be foolish about what matters most. A plain person can see straight to the heart of it. The difference is not the size of the brain. It is the One who gives.

Someone might call this unfair. Why should wisdom be handed out rather than earned? But the gift is not random. A classical commentator notes that the followers of the prophets receive a share of it. Those who seek, learn and obey are in the path of the gift. And Allah needs nothing from what He gives. He is free of all need (35:15).

So ask for wisdom as a gift. Do not assume you have it because you are clever. The grandmother never did.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.