Surah Al-Baqara 2:23 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍۢ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا۟ بِسُورَةٍۢ مِّن مِّثْلِهِۦ وَٱدْعُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ

English: If you have doubts about the revelation We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a single sura like it- enlist whatever supporters you have other than God- if you truly [think you can].

Bengali: এতদসম্পর্কে যদি তোমাদের কোন সন্দেহ থাকে যা আমি আমার বান্দার প্রতি অবতীর্ণ করেছি, তাহলে এর মত একটি সূরা রচনা করে নিয়ে এস। তোমাদের সেসব সাহায্যকারীদেরকে সঙ্গে নাও-এক আল্লাহকে ছাড়া, যদি তোমরা সত্যবাদী হয়ে থাকো।

Meaning & Reflection

'And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our servant, then produce a surah like it, and call your witnesses besides God, if you are truthful.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the standing challenge — 'i'tu bi-suratin min mithlih': the Qur'an stakes its divine origin on an open dare to produce even a single comparable chapter, addressed to the most eloquent people in history, who could not meet it. Ask yourself: the Qur'an does not merely assert it is from God; it offers a *falsifiable test*, and invites all humanity to disprove it. That confidence is itself a kind of evidence. It presses me on the grounds of my own faith: is my belief in this Book a mere inheritance, or have I ever seriously *engaged* the claim it makes about itself — sat with its language, its coherence, its effect — enough to feel the weight of a challenge that has stood unanswered for fourteen centuries?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Baqara 2:23:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?