Surah Al-Baqarah 2:38
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 38 of 286
قُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِنْهَا جَمِيعًۭا ۖ فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّى هُدًۭى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَاىَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Translation
We said, ‘Get out, all of you! But when guidance comes from Me, as it certainly will, there will be no fear for those who follow My guidance nor will they grieve-
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'We said: Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance, there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the promise attached to the earthly exile, 'la khawfun 'alayhim wala hum yahzanun': the one who follows God's guidance is freed from both future dread ('fear') and past sorrow ('grief'). Ask yourself: the two great weights on the human heart are named precisely, fear of what is coming, and grief over what is gone. And the antidote offered is not a change of circumstances but following guidance. It suggests that so much of my anxiety about the future and my regret over the past would lift not by fixing my situation but by aligning with God's guidance. Am I seeking relief from fear and grief in the endless management of my circumstances, when the verse offers it through the far simpler, harder thing: actually following the guidance I've been given?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:38 is discussed in 11 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
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