Surah Al-Baqara 2:40 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection
سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Medinan · Verse 40 of 286
يَٰبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتِىَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا۟ بِعَهْدِىٓ أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّٰىَ فَٱرْهَبُونِ
English: Children of Israel, remember how I blessed you. Honour your pledge to Me and I will honour My pledge to you: I am the One you should fear.
Bengali: হে বনী-ইসরাঈলগণ, তোমরা স্মরণ কর আমার সে অনুগ্রহ যা আমি তোমাদের প্রতি করেছি এবং তোমরা পূরণ কর আমার সাথে কৃত প্রতিজ্ঞা, তাহলে আমি তোমাদেরকে প্রদত্ত প্রতিশ্রুতি পূরণ করব। আর ভয় কর আমাকেই।
Meaning & Reflection
'O Children of Israel, remember My favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill My covenant, and I will fulfill your covenant, and fear Me alone.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the reciprocal bond — 'awfu bi-'ahdi ufi bi-'ahdikum': keep your side of the covenant and God keeps His. And it opens with 'remember My favour' — gratitude as the ground of faithfulness. Ask yourself: the relationship with God is framed as a covenant of kept promises — He is utterly reliable on His side; the variable is *mine*. And notice the sequence: first *remember the favours*, then *keep the covenant* — because ingratitude is what erodes faithfulness. When I fail my commitments to God, it is rarely that He failed His; it is that I forgot His favours first. Am I keeping my side of the covenant — and am I remembering His gifts often enough to *want* to?
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 2:40:
- 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?