Surah Al-Baqara 2:255 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌۭ وَلَا نَوْمٌۭ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ

English: God: there is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the Ever Watchful.Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. All that is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him. Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they do not comprehend any of His knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth; it does not weary Him to preserve them both. He is the Most High, the Tremendous.

Bengali: আল্লাহ ছাড়া অন্য কোন উপাস্য নেই, তিনি জীবিত, সবকিছুর ধারক। তাঁকে তন্দ্রাও স্পর্শ করতে পারে না এবং নিদ্রাও নয়। আসমান ও যমীনে যা কিছু রয়েছে, সবই তাঁর। কে আছ এমন, যে সুপারিশ করবে তাঁর কাছে তাঁর অনুমতি ছাড়া? দৃষ্টির সামনে কিংবা পিছনে যা কিছু রয়েছে সে সবই তিনি জানেন। তাঁর জ্ঞানসীমা থেকে তারা কোন কিছুকেই পরিবেষ্টিত করতে পারে না, কিন্তু যতটুকু তিনি ইচ্ছা করেন। তাঁর সিংহাসন সমস্ত আসমান ও যমীনকে পরিবেষ্টিত করে আছে। আর সেগুলোকে ধারণ করা তাঁর পক্ষে কঠিন নয়। তিনিই সর্বোচ্চ এবং সর্বাপেক্ষা মহান।

Meaning & Reflection

Ayat al-Kursi — which the Prophet ﷺ called the greatest verse in the Qur'an. 'God — there is no god but He, the Ever-Living (al-Hayy), the Sustainer of all (al-Qayyum). Neither drowsiness overtakes Him, nor sleep. To Him belongs all in the heavens and the earth... His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation does not weary Him. He is the Most High, the Most Great.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note it is pure, unbroken *majesty* — a portrait of God with no request, no story, only who He is. al-Biqa'i and al-Saadi dwell on 'al-Qayyum': the One who stands over everything and by whom everything stands, joined to 'no drowsiness nor sleep' — He never once looks away, which is precisely why the universe never falls. Ask yourself: I recite this verse for protection, but its power is not a charm — it is the *reality* it describes. If the One sustaining all existence never sleeps, never tires, never lapses in His watch, then there is no instant in which I am unheld, unwatched, or forgotten. My anxiety assumes gaps in His attention that this verse says do not exist. When I truly grasp that the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining, never-sleeping God is holding me and everything else this very second, what fear survives it? Do I recite Ayat al-Kursi as words — or let its portrait of God actually still my heart?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Baqara 2:255:

• 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?