Surah Al-Baqarah 2:58
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 58 of 286
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ٱدْخُلُوا۟ هَٰذِهِ ٱلْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُوا۟ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًۭا وَٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْبَابَ سُجَّدًۭا وَقُولُوا۟ حِطَّةٌۭ نَّغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَٰيَٰكُمْ ۚ وَسَنَزِيدُ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
Translation
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.’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and 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.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:58 is discussed in 6 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
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