يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous -
Introduction
This is āyah 21 of Sūrat Al-Baqara (The Cow), the 87th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 1. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 87 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Baqara (2)
(O mankind! Worship your Lord � ) [2:21]. Sa�id ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Zahid> Abu �Ali ibn Ahmad al-Faqih> Abu Turab al-Quhustani> �Abd al-Rahman ibn Bishr> Rawh> Shu�bah> Sufyan al-Thawri> al-A�mash> Ibrahim> �Alqamah who said: �Any revelation which contains the expression (O mankind!) is Meccan while any revelation which contains the expression (O ye who believe!) is Medinan�. He means to say that the expression (O mankind!) is an address to the people of Mecca while (O ye who believe!) is an address to the people of Medina. Hence, Allah�s saying (O mankind! Worship your Lord � ) is an address to the Meccan idolaters. The address of the idolaters of Mecca goes on until Allah�s saying: (And give glad tidings�) [al-Baqarah, 2:25]. This last verse was revealed about the believers. This is because Allah, exalted is He, wanted to mention here the reward of the believers after having mentioned the reward of the disbelievers in His saying: (� the fire prepared for the disbelievers, whose fuel is of men and stones) [al-Baqarah, 2:24].
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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