Skip to content
HikmahLearn home HikmahLearn
Menu
Sign in

Learn › Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr The Complete Qurʾān Commentary › Lesson 2

Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr The Complete Qurʾān Commentary · As-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl The Seven Long Surahs
Lesson 2

Sūrah Al-Baqarah The Cow

البقرة

The longest surah in the Qurʾān 286 verses and called the Peak (Sanam) of the Qurʾān by the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Kathīr covers its vast scope: the nature of faith, Banī Isrāʾīl's covenant and violations, the Qiblah change, major legal rulings, and the most magnificent verse in the Qurʾān Āyat al-Kursī.

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance
SurahالبقرةAl-Baqarah The CowLongest surah in the Qurʾān
TypeMadanī286 versesRevealed after Hijra to Madīnah
Juzʾ1–3Spans three JuzʾContains Āyat al-Kursī (2:255)
Key PassagesAlif Lām Mīm · Āyat al-Kursī · Last two verses2:1–5, 2:255–257, 2:285–286Among the most recited

Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr

The Muqaṭṭaʿāt (Alif Lām Mīm): Ibn Kathīr surveys the scholarly positions on these disconnected letters that their meaning is known only to Allah, or that they signal the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān, which is composed of the same letters the Arabs used, yet they cannot produce its like.

Three types of people (2:1–20): The Qurʾān divides humanity into believers (verses 1–5), disbelievers (verses 6–7), and hypocrites (verses 8–20). Ibn Kathīr gives extensive detail on the hypocrites whose description fills more verses than the other two combined, reflecting their greater danger to the community.

Banī Isrāʾīl (2:40–123): Allah recounts thirteen favours upon the Children of Isrāʾīl and twelve violations they committed. Ibn Kathīr draws on Companion narrations (especially from Ibn ʿAbbās ؓ) to explain each incident historically.

Āyat al-Kursī (2:255): Ibn Kathīr calls this the greatest verse in the Qurʾān, citing the ḥadīth in which the Prophet ﷺ confirmed this to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb ؓ. The verse establishes Allah's absolute Hayy (Living) and Qayyūm (Self-Sustaining) nature neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him.

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ Allāhu lā ilāha illā huwa l-ḥayyu l-qayyūm · lā taʾkhudhuhū sinatun wa lā nawm Allah there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. (2:255) Āyat al-Kursī, the greatest verse of the Qurʾān.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ Lā yukallifu llāhu nafsan illā wusʿahā · lahā mā kasabat wa ʿalayhā mā ktasabat Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear for it is what it has earned; against it what it has brought upon itself. (2:286) The last verse of Al-Baqarah, a mercy upon the entire ummah.
  • The Cow Story (2:67–73): Banī Isrāʾīl were commanded to slaughter a cow they asked repeatedly to narrow its description, making easy made difficult. Ibn Kathīr: had they slaughtered any cow at the start, it would have sufficed.
  • The Last Two Verses: The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever recites the last two verses of Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice him" (Bukhārī). Ibn Kathīr notes they were given to the Prophet ﷺ directly on the Night Journey from the treasure beneath the Throne.
  • Change of Qiblah (2:142–150): The Qiblah changed from Jerusalem to Makkah 17 months after Hijra. This was a test and the first to pray toward Makkah did so mid-prayer, changing direction immediately upon hearing the revelation.
  • Ribā declared war (2:278–279): The final rulings on ribā (interest) in this surah are among the last revelations before the Prophet's ﷺ death Allah and His Messenger declare war on those who persist in it.
  • "Read Al-Baqarah its recitation is a blessing, abandoning it is a loss, and the magicians cannot overcome it": Ḥadīth narrated by Muslim Ibn Kathīr uses this to establish the surah's unique protective quality in the home.

Finished this lesson?

Sign in to keep your place across devices. Every lesson stays free and open.

Sign in to keep your place