Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 37 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:37

فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words,[22] and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of Repentance,[23] the Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the slip, Allah gave Adam the very words to come back with, and turned to him in mercy, again and again.

A reflection

The One who keeps turning back

A mother leaves the porch light on every night. Her son walked out two years ago after a furious argument and has not called. Neighbours notice the light at two in the morning. She says only, 'If he comes, I don't want him to find the house dark.'

The ayah ends with two names. Al-Tawwāb: the One who turns, and turns again. Tawba at root means returning. When a servant repents, he returns to Allah. When Allah 'repents' on a servant, as the ayah literally says, He returns to him with mercy and acceptance. The form tawwāb is intensive. He does not turn back once. He keeps turning back, as often as the servant does.

One classical commentary draws a contrast. A king of this world may accept an apology once. If the offender does it again and apologises again, the king's pride will not let him accept. Allah accepts repentance not from softness of temper, nor to gain anything or avoid any harm. He accepts it out of pure generosity, even from someone who sinned and repented every hour of a long life.

And He turns first. Before Adam repented, Allah gave him the words to repent with. Elsewhere the Quran says it outright: 'He turned to them so that they might turn' (9:118).

Set this beside our own pride. When someone wrongs us, we wait for the full apology, the right tone, perhaps a second apology for the first. We keep score. Some of us have refused to turn back to a person for years over something we can no longer describe. The Mighty One, who owes us nothing, turns back again and again.

Why does Allah tell us He is Oft-Returning? Does He wish to be admired for His mercy? He is free of all need (35:15). The name is an invitation. It tells the one who has slipped that the light is on.

A hadith recorded by al-Tirmidhi, and graded ḥasan, makes the scale plain. Allah addresses the son of Adam. If you came to Me with sins nearly filling the earth, associating nothing with Me, I would bring you forgiveness as vast.

The ego says, 'I have gone too far.' This ayah answers that no one has gone further than the reach of al-Tawwāb al-Raḥīm.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.