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سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · 2:285
MedinanRevelation order ٨٧Juzʾ ٣Page ٤٩

ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍۢ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦ ۚ وَقَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

٢٨٥
Saheeh International · EN

The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination."

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Introduction

This is āyah 285 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 3. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.

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Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Medinan
Order revealed
87 of 114
Surah
Al-Baqara (2)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

(The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord�) [2:285]. The Imam Abu Mansur �Abd al-Qahir ibn Tahir informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn �Ali ibn Ziyad> Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Bushanji> Umayyah ibn Bistam> Yazid ibn Zuray�> Rawh ibn al-Qasim> al-�Ala�> his father> Abu Hurayrah who said: �When Allah, exalted is He, revealed to His Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, the verse (� and whether ye make known what is in your minds or hide, Allah will bring you to account for it�) [2:284], the prophetic Companions found this hard to cope with. They went to the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �We have been entrusted with works that we can not bear: the prayer, fasting, Jihad, almsgiving; and now Allah has revealed to you this verse which we are not able to bear�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: �Do you want to say as the people of the two Scriptures said before you? � the narrator said: I think he quoted the verse (We hear and we rebel!) [2:93] � Say, rather, (We hear, and we obey. (Grant us) Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the journeying)�. When they heard this, they did not answer. Allah revealed after this (The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord�) the whole verse, and Allah abrogated it by His revelation (Allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope�) [2:286] to the end of the verse�. This report was narrated by Muslim from Umayyah ibn Bistam. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> �Abd Allah ibn �Umar and Yusuf ibn Musa> Waki�> Sufyan> Adam ibn Sulayman who said: �I heard Sa�id ibn Jubayr relating from Ibn �Abbas who said: �When the verse (� and whether ye make known what is in your minds or hide, Allah will bring you to account for it�) was revealed, objection crept into the hearts of the prophetic Companions as it never did before. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: Say, �we hear and we obey�. Allah then revealed (Allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope), up to His saying (or miss the mark) upon which he said: You did.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) "We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers ـ and they say, "We hear, and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return (of all). (285)Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving peopl…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. 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

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. 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.

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Provenance

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