Surah Al-Baqara 2:58 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ٱدْخُلُوا۟ هَٰذِهِ ٱلْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُوا۟ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًۭا وَٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْبَابَ سُجَّدًۭا وَقُولُوا۟ حِطَّةٌۭ نَّغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَٰيَٰكُمْ ۚ وَسَنَزِيدُ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

English: Remember when We said, ‘Enter this town and eat freely there as you will, but enter its gate humbly and say, “Relieve us!” Then We shall forgive you your sins and increase the rewards of those who do good.’

Bengali: আর যখন আমি বললাম, তোমরা প্রবেশ কর এ নগরীতে এবং এতে যেখানে খুশী খেয়ে স্বাচ্ছন্দ্যে বিচরণ করতে থাক এবং দরজার ভিতর দিয়ে প্রবেশ করার সময় সেজদা করে ঢুক, আর বলতে থাক-‘আমাদিগকে ক্ষমা করে দাও’-তাহলে আমি তোমাদের অপরাধ ক্ষমা করব এবং সৎ কর্মশীলদেরকে অতিরিক্ত দানও করব।

Meaning & Reflection

'And when We said: Enter this town and eat freely wherever you wish, and enter the gate prostrating, and say: Relieve us [hittatun] — We will forgive your sins and increase the doers of good.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the ease of what was asked for forgiveness — enter humbly (prostrating), and say one word of humility, 'hitta', asking to be relieved of the burden of sin. Ask yourself: forgiveness was offered on stunningly gentle terms — a posture of humility and a single humble word. God does not make the door back hard to open; He makes it small enough for anyone to pass through. It reveals how *accessible* His forgiveness is — the barrier is never His reluctance but my unwillingness to *humble* myself, even a little. Am I withholding from myself an easy forgiveness because I refuse the small humility it asks — the bowed head, the honest word, the admission 'relieve me, I got it wrong'?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Baqara 2:58:

• 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?