Hikma › Qur'an › Surah Al-Baqarah › Verse 48

Surah Al-Baqarah — 2:48

وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

Wattaqoo yawmal laa tajzee nafsun 'an nafsin shay'anw wa laa yuqbalu minhaa shafaa'atunw wa laa yu'khazu minhaa 'adlunw wa laa hum yunsaroon

And be mindful of a day when no soul will avail another in anything, no intercession will be accepted from it, no ransom will be taken from it, and they will not be helped.

Reflection

Placement carries the argument. A claim of favour has just been made, and the answer follows immediately, in four denials that close every route by which one person might discharge another's account. Jazā is the verb for satisfying a debt on someone's behalf, so what is refused is substitution itself, and the tradition read this as leaving intercession to God's permission rather than to entitlement.

← 2:47 2:49 →

Read all of Surah Al-Baqarah

Reflect on this verse with Hikma · Get the Hikma app