The Last Two Verses of Surah Al-Baqarah: Meaning and Virtues
Surah Al-Baqarah is the longest surah of the Quran: 286 verses, two and a half juz. It closes with two verses that many Muslims read every night before they sleep, often called by their opening words, Āmana r-Rasūl, "the Messenger has believed".
The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites them at night, they will be enough for him. This article gives both verses in Arabic, with a transliteration and the English translation, then looks at the hadith about them, the story of how they were revealed, and what they say line by line.
The two verses
ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَۚ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيۡنَ أَحَدٖ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦۚ وَقَالُواْ سَمِعۡنَا وَأَطَعۡنَاۖ غُفۡرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيۡكَ ٱلۡمَصِيرُ
The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination." (2:285)
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرٗا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ
Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people." (2:286)
Transliteration
Āmanar-rasūlu bimā unzila ilayhi mir-rabbihī wal-muʾminūn. Kullun āmana billāhi wa malāʾikatihī wa kutubihī wa rusulih. Lā nufarriqu bayna aḥadim-mir-rusulih. Wa qālū samiʿnā wa aṭaʿnā, ghufrānaka rabbanā wa ilaykal-maṣīr.
Lā yukallifullāhu nafsan illā wusʿahā. Lahā mā kasabat wa ʿalayhā mak-tasabat. Rabbanā lā tuʾākhidhnā in nasīnā aw akhṭaʾnā. Rabbanā wa lā taḥmil ʿalaynā iṣran kamā ḥamaltahū ʿalal-ladhīna min qablinā. Rabbanā wa lā tuḥammilnā mā lā ṭāqata lanā bih. Waʿfu ʿannā, waghfir lanā, warḥamnā. Anta mawlānā fanṣurnā ʿalal-qawmil-kāfirīn.
If you learned to read the Quran in the IndoPak script, here are the same verses as they appear in a South Asian mushaf:
اٰمَنَ الرَّسُوۡلُ بِمَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَيۡهِ مِنۡ رَّبِّهٖ وَ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَؕ كُلٌّ اٰمَنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَمَلٰٓٮِٕكَتِهٖ وَكُتُبِهٖ وَرُسُلِهٖ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيۡنَ اَحَدٍ مِّنۡ رُّسُلِهٖ وَقَالُوۡا سَمِعۡنَا وَاَطَعۡنَا غُفۡرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَاِلَيۡكَ الۡمَصِيۡرُ
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللّٰهُ نَفۡسًا اِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا ؕ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا مَا اكۡتَسَبَتۡؕ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَاۤ اِنۡ نَّسِيۡنَاۤ اَوۡ اَخۡطَاۡنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِصۡرًا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهٗ عَلَى الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِنَا ۚرَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهٖ ۚ وَاعۡفُ عَنَّا وَاغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَارۡحَمۡنَا اَنۡتَ مَوۡلٰٮنَا فَانۡصُرۡنَا عَلَى الۡقَوۡمِ الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ
You can read and listen to both verses with their translation, or read them with the Urdu translation.
Their virtues
"They will be enough for him"
Abū Masʿūd al-Badrī reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever recites the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5009; Sahih Muslim 807).
The hadith does not say what they will suffice him for, and scholars have understood it in more than one way. Al-Nawawī, in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, mentions that they suffice him in place of standing in prayer that night, that they protect him from harm and from Shayṭān that night, and that they are enough as a minimum of night recitation. The words can carry all of these meanings, and none of them excludes the others.
Two lights given to no prophet before
Ibn ʿAbbās reported that while Jibrīl was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ, he heard a sound from above and said: "This is a gate of heaven opened today that has never been opened before." An angel came down through it who had never come down to earth before. He greeted the Prophet ﷺ and said: "Rejoice in two lights given to you that were not given to any prophet before you: the Opening of the Book (Al-Fatihah) and the closing verses of Surah Al-Baqarah. You will not recite a letter of them without being given what it contains" (Sahih Muslim 806).
Much of verse 286 is a prayer, so "being given what it contains" means that every request in it is answered.
A gift from the night of the Ascension
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd reported that on the night of the Miʿrāj, when the Prophet ﷺ was taken up to the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, he was given three things: the five daily prayers, the closing verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, and forgiveness of the major sins of those in his ummah who do not associate anything with Allah (Sahih Muslim 173).
Shayṭān does not come near the house
Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr reported that the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah wrote a book two thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and sent down from it the two verses that close Surah Al-Baqarah. If they are recited in a house for three nights, Shayṭān will not come near it (Jami' at-Tirmidhi, which grades it ḥasan gharīb). Its chain is weaker than the hadith above, and it is best read as a further encouragement rather than relied on alone.
How the verses were revealed
The verse just before them, 2:284, says: "Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allāh will bring you to account for it." The Companions found this very hard. Abū Hurayrah reported that they came to the Prophet ﷺ, knelt down, and said that they had been given deeds they could manage, prayer, fasting, jihad and charity, but this verse asked of them something beyond their power: how could they answer for every thought that crossed their minds?
The Prophet ﷺ asked them whether they wanted to say what the People of the Book before them had said, "We hear and we disobey." Instead, he told them, say: "We hear and we obey. Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the final destination." When they said it, and their tongues had grown used to it, Allah revealed the two verses, beginning with praise for exactly those words (Sahih Muslim 125).
In the report of Ibn ʿAbbās, each time the Companions read one of the prayers in verse 286, Allah answered: "I have done so" (Sahih Muslim 126). Many scholars understood from this that thoughts that pass through the mind, without being acted on or settled in the heart, are not held against a person.
What the verses say
The Messenger believed, and so did the believers
The first verse begins with the Prophet ﷺ himself: he believed in what was revealed to him before anyone else did. The believers follow him, and their faith is described in full: in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers. These are four of the six pillars of faith, the same ones named in the well-known hadith of Jibrīl.
"We make no distinction between any of His messengers" means believing in all of them, from Ādam to Mūsā and ʿĪsā and Muḥammad ﷺ, not accepting some and rejecting others.
"We hear and we obey"
The Companions' words are now part of the Quran, recited in every prayer that includes these verses, until the end of time. They were praised not for having no difficulty with the command, but for answering it with obedience, and then immediately asking for forgiveness for whatever they would fall short in: ghufrānaka rabbanā.
No soul is burdened beyond its capacity
The second verse opens with one of the most comforting sentences in the Quran: لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا, "Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity." It is the answer to the Companions' worry. Whatever Allah asks of a person, it is within their reach.
Each soul keeps the good it has gained and bears the evil it has earned. Some commentators noted that the Arabic uses two different forms of the verb here, kasabat for good and iktasabat for evil, and suggested that good is earned easily, while evil takes deliberate effort.
Three prayers, each beginning "Our Lord"
The verse then turns into a prayer, in the words Allah taught the believers to say:
- Do not blame us if we forget or make a mistake. A hadith reported by Ibn Mājah says that Allah has pardoned this ummah for mistakes, forgetfulness and what they are forced into.
- Do not lay on us a burden like the one laid on those before us. The iṣr is a heavy obligation. Commentators such as Ibn Kathīr explain it as the severe laws given to earlier nations, for example to the Children of Israel. The religion given to this ummah was made easier.
- Do not burden us with what we cannot bear. This covers trials and hardship as well as commands.
It ends with three short requests, each one asking for more than the last: waʿfu ʿannā, pardon us, overlooking the sin; waghfir lanā, forgive us, covering it; warḥamnā, have mercy on us, going beyond forgiveness to kindness. Then the believer names who they rely on, Anta mawlānā, "You are our protector", and asks for His help.
These closing prayers also appear in our article on the Rabbana duas of the Quran.
When to read them
The hadith says "at night", and the Islamic night begins at sunset, so they can be read any time between Maghrib and Fajr. Most people read them after ʿIshāʾ or in bed, alongside Surah Al-Mulk and Ayatul Kursi. Some also recite them in the night prayer; see our guide to Tahajjud.
The two verses take about a minute to read. They are a good passage to memorise, so you can recite them from memory with the lights off.
Read them tonight
Read the last two verses of Al-Baqarah in the Uthmani or IndoPak script, with English or Urdu translation, or play the recitation and follow along. You can also open each verse on its own page: 2:285 and 2:286.
Sources
- The Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah (2:284-286), in the Saheeh International translation
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5009 and Sahih Muslim 807, on the verses sufficing their reader
- Sahih Muslim 806, on the two lights; 173, on the night of the Ascension; 125 and 126, on how the verses were revealed
- Jami' at-Tirmidhi, on the report of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr; Sunan Ibn Mājah, on forgetfulness and mistakes being pardoned
- al-Nawawī, Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and the commentary (tafsīr) of Ibn Kathīr on Surah Al-Baqarah
The wording of the hadith above is summarised rather than translated word for word; follow the links to read the full narrations. For questions of religious practice, please ask a qualified scholar.