وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].
Introduction
This is āyah 42 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)
And confuse not truth with falsehood. Be careful not to mix truth and falsehood. Do not put truthfulness together with lying, the ap- proved together with the unapproved. I do not say not to recognize falsehood. You must recognize it so as to avoid it, and you must recognize truth so as go after it. MuṣṬafā said, “O God, show us truth as truth and provide us with choosing it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and provide us with avoiding it.” Concerning the verse, “And confuse not truth with falsehood,” the masters of the realities have said that the meaning is that you should not mix together the share of the soul and the food of the heart, for the two do not get along. The owner of the heart is elated at the rightful due of truth, but the servant of the soul is bound by the share of the soul. How can the two come together? This world is trifling and the next world precious. How can the two get along? Friendship with the Cre- ator is beginningless and endless felicity, but friendship with the created is a ready bane. How can the two come together? God has not given any man two hearts in his breast [33:4]. God-worship and self-worship are opposites. How can the two be brought together in one makeup? Love for both self and the loving Friend won't reach you. Want either this or that-you won't reach both.
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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