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سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · 2:53
MedinanRevelation order ٨٧Juzʾ ١Page ٨

وَإِذْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْفُرْقَانَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

٥٣
Saheeh International · EN

And [recall] when We gave Moses the Scripture and criterion that perhaps you would be guided.

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Introduction

This is āyah 53 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.

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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

And when We gave Moses the book and the discernment. He gave Moses' folk the discernment outwardly, and He placed the discernment in the inwardness of MuḤammad's folk in addition to their outwardness. The inner discernment is a light in the heart of the friends through which they separate truth from falsehood. It is alluded to in His words, “If you are wary of God, He will appoint for you a criterion” [8:29]. This is why MuṣṬafā said to Wābisa, “Ask for a pronouncement from your heart!” He also said, “Be wary of the perspicacity of the man of faith, for he gazes with the light of God.” When this discernment appears in someone's inwardness, his drinking and aspiration are purified of the dust of others; the walkway of his desire is protected from the debris of customs, the carpet of his days is shaken loose of the opacities of mortal nature, and the eyes of his moment are kept away from the hand of newly arrived things. Then, things that are reports for others are for him face-to-face vision; what had been the knowl- edge of certainty becomes the eye of certainty. No newly arrived thing enters existence in the empire without his heart being aware of it. MuṣṬafā was asked if this has a mark. He said, “When light enters the heart, the breast is expanded.” Its mark is that the breast is opened up to the divine light. When the breast is opened up, the aspiration becomes high, every sorrow is comforted, scatteredness turns into togetherness, the carpet of subsistence is spread, the rug of annihilation is rolled up, the corner of heartaches is closed off, and the door to the garden of union is opened. In joy and coquetry, he says with the tongue of the state, “In the quarter of hope, I have a delightful home, in the story of passion, I have a delightful problem. Why do you ask details about my heart, O spirit of the world? Know, in short, that I have a delighted heart.”

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And (remember) when We appointed for Musa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his absence) you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers)(51)Then after that We forgave you so that you might be grateful (52)And (remember) when We gave Musa the Scripture (the Tawrah)) and the criterion (of right and wrong) so that you may be guided aright (53) The Children of Israel worshipped the Calf Allah then said, "Remember My favor on you when I forgave you for worshipping the calf." This happened after Musa went to the meeting place with his Lord at the end of that period which was forty days. These forty days were mentioned in Surat Al-A'raf, when Allah said, وَوَاعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ ثَلَاثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا بِعَشْرٍ (And We appointed for Musa thirty nights and added (to the period) ten (more))(7:142). It was said that these days were during the month of D…
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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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.

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Provenance

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