The Closing Verses

SubḥānAllāh, the last verses — verse 284, and thereafter āmana al-rasūl — are held to be the khawātīm of Sūrat al-Baqarah, and great virtues are related of them. The hadith mentions that whoever reads from āmana al-rasūl to the end — and this too is something one should have one's children memorise, and oneself — whoever reads it in the evening on going to sleep, of it is said kafatāh: they will suffice him, they will suffice that man. Either it suffices him as regards the right the Qur'an has over him, that a man must read a certain portion each day: if he does not, but reads at least this at the close of the day, in shāʾ Allāh that should suffice. It may be protection. It may be a protection for one's worldly needs. There are many such things. It is therefore well to read āmana al-rasūl to the end, and to understand it so far as one is able, before sleeping.

These are very important verses. There is a hadith in al-Bukhārī and Muslim which gives the background to the revelation of this verse. Allah first revealed:

Whether you disclose what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it and take reckoning of it.

When the Ṣaḥābah saw this — and it must be remembered that they wanted full marks in everything they did in their lives — they were much troubled. They said: as to the outward, there are things we can regulate and control; but as to thoughts, we have no control. And if we are to be answerable for our thoughts as well — the fleeting thoughts that pass through the mind, the thoughts Shayṭān casts in — then we are lost.

So they came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: how are we to fulfil this? We are in difficulty. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said something of great interest, and of a most touching understanding. He said: would you be like the people before you, who said, we hear and we disobey — that is, we cannot do this, it is too hard? Say rather āmannā. Say that we believe and we obey. And they said it. They listened at once, and they said it.

And the hadith relates that this made it easy for them. Then Allah (swt) revealed the next part, āmana al-rasūl:

To say that they would not be taken to task for what lay beyond their power. So the sense of it is this: Allah revealed the first part first and tested them with it; and as soon as they passed the test, saying, we shall do our utmost, yā Allah — Allah then lightened the burden upon them and said: no, you shall not be taken to task.

Hence the duʿāʾ within it is of great power: rabbanā lā taḥmil ʿalaynā iṣran kamā ḥamaltahu ʿalā alladhīna min qablinā, and then rabbanā wa-lā tuḥammilnā mā lā ṭāqata lanā bih — do not lay upon us such burdens as the people before us had to bear. There were matters of real difficulty among the Banū Isrāʾīl and others, laws they were bound to follow; do not make us do those things. Do not lay upon us a burden we have no strength to bear. Wa-ʿfu ʿannā wa-ghfir lanā wa-rḥamnā, and so to the end. A most profound verse, and well worth examining.