Surah Al-Baqara 2:22 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 22 of 286
ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضَ فِرَٰشًۭا وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بِنَآءًۭ وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ رِزْقًۭا لَّكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ أَندَادًۭا وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
English: who spread out the earth for you and built the sky; who sent water down from it and with that water produced things for your sustenance. Do not, knowing this, set up rivals to God.
Bengali: যে পবিত্রসত্তা তোমাদের জন্য ভূমিকে বিছানা এবং আকাশকে ছাদ স্বরূপ স্থাপন করে দিয়েছেন, আর আকাশ থেকে পানি বর্ষণ করে তোমাদের জন্য ফল-ফসল উৎপাদন করেছেন তোমাদের খাদ্য হিসাবে। অতএব, আল্লাহর সাথে তোমরা অন্য কাকেও সমকক্ষ করো না। বস্তুতঃ এসব তোমরা জান।
Meaning & Reflection
'Who made the earth a bed for you and the sky a canopy, and sent down rain, bringing forth fruits as provision for you. So do not set up rivals to God while you know.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the grounds for worship — a catalogue of gifts (earth as a resting-place, sky as shelter, rain, food) — and the prohibition: 'andad', rivals, set up beside God. Ask yourself: rivals to God are not only idols of stone. Anything I give God's due — the love, fear, hope, and obedience owed to Him alone — becomes a 'rival': my career, my image, another person's approval, my own desires. And note 'while you know' — the verse assumes I already recognise, from these very gifts, that He alone is Lord. What have I quietly enthroned beside God — giving it the ultimate trust, fear, or devotion that belongs to Him — even though, if honest, I *know* better?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Reflect with the Five Lenses
Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Baqara 2:22:
- Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
- Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
- Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
- Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
- General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?