Surah Al-Baqarah 2:57
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 57 of 286
وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْغَمَامَ وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَنَّ وَٱلسَّلْوَىٰ ۖ كُلُوا۟ مِن طَيِّبَٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنَٰكُمْ ۖ وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ
Translation
We made the clouds cover you with shade, and sent manna and quails down to you, saying, ‘Eat the good things We have provided for you.’ It was not Us they wronged; they wronged themselves.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And We shaded you with clouds and sent down upon you manna and quails: Eat of the good things We have provided you. And they did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note the effortless provision in the barren wilderness, shade, sweet manna, and quail delivered from the sky, and the crucial principle: their ingratitude and sin 'did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves'. Ask yourself: two truths sit together here. First, God provides even in the desert, sustenance where there is no visible means, so I need never assume a barren situation is beyond His provision. Second, my sins injure no one but me, God is untouched by my rebellion; I am the only casualty of my own wrongdoing. It strips away the illusion that my sin is a blow against God or a private matter with no victim. When I disobey, whom am I actually harming? The verse answers plainly: only myself.
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:57 is discussed in 8 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
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