Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 32 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:32

قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

“They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing,[19] the Wise."[20]”

Saheeh International

Essence

At the edge of their knowledge the angels did not defend themselves; they glorified Allah and said: we know only what You taught us.

A reflection

The bit in the horse's mouth

Watch a rider on a young horse along a narrow lane. The horse wants to veer towards the verge, the hedge, the gate. A light pressure on the reins, carried through the bit, keeps it straight. The horse does not see the lorry round the bend. The rider does.

The angels have just been asked for names they were never taught. Their answer begins with subḥānaka: glory be to You, You are far above any flaw. They do not argue or make excuses. Their first word is about Him.

Then they name Him twice. Al-ʿAlīm: the All-Knowing. A classical theologian notes the form of the sentence. It means 'You, You alone, are the All-Knowing'. Knowledge in full, he says, means encompassing everything that can be known. That belongs to Allah alone. Every other knower, however bright, knows a patch.

Al-Ḥakīm: the All-Wise. One classical commentator gives the word two senses. It is the judge who rules with justice. And it is the one who makes a thing so sound that corruption cannot enter it. The root, he adds, means holding back. The Arabs called the bit in a horse's mouth ḥakama, because it keeps the animal from going crooked. Wisdom is what holds a thing on its right course.

Set the ego beside this. We like to think our judgement steers our lives. We are proud of reading situations well. The angels, closer to the heavens than we will ever be, confess that their knowledge is only what they were given. It is borrowed, and bounded.

Why does Allah record the angels praising Him? Does He need their confession? No. He is free of all need (35:15). The confession is where they find their footing, and where we find ours. The horse is not humiliated by the bit. It is kept from the ditch.

The one who glorifies Allah at the limit of his understanding has not lost anything. He has handed the reins to the One who can see round the bend.

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.