Surah Al-Baqarah 2:32
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 32 of 286
قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
Translation
They said, ‘May You be glorified! We have knowledge only of what You have taught us. You are the All Knowing and All Wise.’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'They said: Glory to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the angels' perfect humility before the limits of their knowledge, no defensiveness, no pretending; simply, 'we know only what You taught us'. Ask yourself: this is the model relationship to knowledge, to hold it as received, not self-generated, and to admit its limits without shame. Every true thing I know was, ultimately, taught to me; I originated none of it. Contrast this with my instinct to defend my views, to bluff past what I don't know, to take credit for understanding I was granted. The angels' response is the antidote to the intellectual pride that ruins so much: 'we have no knowledge except what You taught us'. Can I hold what I know with that humility, as a loan from the All-Knowing, not a trophy of my own?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:32 is discussed in 10 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Baqarah 2:32 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.