Surah Al-Baqara 2:286 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًۭا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ ۖ وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَآ ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ

English: God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear: each gains whatever good it has done, and suffers its bad- ‘ Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes. Lord, do not burden us as You burdened those before us. Lord, do not burden us with more than we have strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so help us against the disbelievers.’

Bengali: আল্লাহ কাউকে তার সাধ্যাতীত কোন কাজের ভার দেন না, সে তাই পায় যা সে উপার্জন করে এবং তাই তার উপর বর্তায় যা সে করে। হে আমাদের পালনকর্তা, যদি আমরা ভুলে যাই কিংবা ভুল করি, তবে আমাদেরকে অপরাধী করো না। হে আমাদের পালনকর্তা! এবং আমাদের উপর এমন দায়িত্ব অর্পণ করো না, যেমন আমাদের পূর্ববর্তীদের উপর অর্পণ করেছ, হে আমাদের প্রভূ! এবং আমাদের দ্বারা ঐ বোঝা বহন করিও না, যা বহন করার শক্তি আমাদের নাই। আমাদের পাপ মোচন কর। আমাদেরকে ক্ষমা কর এবং আমাদের প্রতি দয়া কর। তুমিই আমাদের প্রভু। সুতরাং কাফের সম্প্রদায়ের বিরুদ্ধে আমাদের কে সাহায্যে কর।

Meaning & Reflection

'God does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. It has what it earned, and against it what it earned. [And they pray:] Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or err. Our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden like that You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, do not burden us with more than we can bear. Pardon us, forgive us, have mercy upon us. You are our Protector, so help us against the disbelieving people.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the mercy that opens the verse — 'la yukallifu Allahu nafsan illa wus'aha': no trial God assigns is ever beyond the God-given strength to bear it — and the tender closing supplication God Himself taught, ending the mightiest Surah not in law but in a heart's desperate plea. Ask yourself: two profound gifts sit in this final verse. First, a *guarantee*: whatever hardship I am carrying, it is — by divine promise — within my capacity, however impossible it feels; God does not overload a soul. That reframes every burden as survivable by design. Second, God ends the Surah by putting a prayer in my own mouth — for pardon, for a bearable load, for help — as if to say: after all the guidance, this is how you should *speak* to Me. When I feel crushed and think 'this is more than I can take', do I hold to His promise that it is not — and answer, as He taught me here, not with despair but with this prayer?

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 2:286:

• 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?