Surah Al-Baqarah >> Currently viewing Surah Baqarah Ayat 37 (2:37)

Surah Baqarah Ayat 37 in Arabic Text

فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَٰتٖ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡهِۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Fatalaqqaaa Aadamu mir Rabbihee Kalimaatin fataaba ‘alaihi; innahoo Huwat Tawwaabur Raheem

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 37

Sahih International
Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

Yusuf Ali
“Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

Abul Ala Maududi
At that time Adam learnt appropriate words from his Lord and repented, and his Lord accepted his repentance, for He is very Relenting and very Merciful.

Muhsin Khan
Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful.

Pickthall
Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful.

Dr. Ghali
Then Adam received (some) Words from his Lord; so He relented towards him; surely He, Ever He, is The Superbly Relenting, The Ever-Merciful.

Abdel Haleem
Then Adam received some words from his Lord and He accepted his repentance: He is the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful.

Muhammad Junagarhi
(حضرت) آدم (علیہ السلام) نے اپنے رب سے چند باتیں سیکھ لیں اور اللہ تعالیٰ نے ان کی توبہ قبول فرمائی، بےشک وہی توبہ قبول کرنے واﻻ اور رحم کرنے واﻻ ہے

Quran 2 Verse 37 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Baqarah ayat 37, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(2:37) Thereupon Adam learned from his Lord some words and repented[51] and his Lord accepted his repentance for He is Much-Relenting, Most Compassionate.[52]


51. This means that when Adam became conscious of his act of sin and wanted to return from his state of disobedience to that of obedience, and when he tried to seek remission for his sin from God, he was unable to find the words to use in his prayer to God. In His Mercy God taught him the words with which he could pray.

The word tawbah basically denotes ‘to come back, to turn towards someone’. Tawbah, on the part of man, signifies that he has given up his attitude of disobedience and has returned to submission and obedience to God. The same word used in respect of God means that He has mercifully turned towards His repentant servant so that the latter has once more become an object of His compassionate attention.

52. The Qur’an refutes the doctrine that certain consequences necessarily follow from sins and that man must in all cases bear them. In fact this is one of the most misleading doctrines to have been invented by human imagination. If it were true it would mean that a sinner would never have the opportunity to have his repentance accepted. It is a mechanistic view of reward and punishment and thus prevents and discourages the sinner from trying to improve.

The Qur’an, on the contrary, tells man that reward for good actions and punishment for bad ones rests entirely with God. The reward that one receives for good acts is not the natural consequence of those acts; it is rather due to the grace and benevolence of God and it is entirely up to Him to reward one or not. Likewise, punishment for evil deeds is not a natural and unalterable consequence of man’s acts. God has full authority to punish man for his sin as well as to pardon him.

God’s grace and mercy, however, are interrelated with His wisdom. Since He is wise, He does not use His power arbitrarily. Hence, whenever God rewards a man for his good acts, He does so because the good was done with purity of intention and for the sake of pleasing God. And if God refuses to accept an act of apparent goodness, He does so because that act had merely the form or appearance of goodness, and was not motivated by the desire to please God.

In the same way God punishes man for those sins which he commits with rebellious boldness, and which whet his appetite for more rather than lead him to repentance. Similarly, in His mercy God pardons those sins which are followed by genuine repentance and readiness on the part of the sinner to reform himself. There is no need for the criminal to despair of God’s grace and mercy, no matter how great a criminal he is. Nor is there any reason for even the most rabid disbeliever to despair, provided he recognizes his error, repents of his disobedience and is ready to replace his former disobedience with obedience.

Ibn-Kathir

37. Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful.


Adam repents and supplicates to Allah

It was reported that the above Ayah is explained by Allah’s statement,

﴿قَالاَ رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَـسِرِينَ ﴾

(They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.”) (7:23) as Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi, Khaلlid bin Ma`dan, `Ata’ Al-Khurasani and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam have stated. As-Suddi said that Ibn `Abbas commented on,

﴿فَتَلَقَّى ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِ كَلِمَاتٍ﴾

(Then Adam received from his Lord Words) “Adam said, `O Lord! Did You not created me with Your Own Hands’ He said, `Yes.’ He said, `And blow life into me’ He said, `Yes.’ He said, `And when I sneezed, You said, `May Allah grant you His mercy.’ Does not Your mercy precede Your anger’ He was told, `Yes.’ Adam said, `And You destined me to commit this evil act’ He was told, `Yes.’ He said, `If I repent, will You send me back to Paradise’ Allah said, `Yes.”’ Similar is reported from Al-`Awfi, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Sa`id bin Ma`bad, and Ibn `Abbas. Al-Hakim recorded this Hadith in his Mustadrak from Ibn Jubayr, who narrated it from Ibn `Abbas. Al-Hakim said, “Its chain is Sahih and they (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.”

Allah’s statement,

﴿إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾

(Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful) (2:37) means that Allah forgives whoever regrets his error and returns to Him in repentance. This meaning is similar to Allah’s statements,

﴿أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ﴾

(Know they not that Allah accepts repentance from His servants) (9:104),

﴿وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءاً أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ﴾

(And whoever does evil or wrongs himself) (4:110) and

﴿وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَـلِحاً﴾

(And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds) (25:71).

The Ayat mentioned above, testify to the fact that Allah forgives the sins of whoever repents, demonstrating His kindness and mercy towards His creation and servants. There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

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surah baqarah ayat 37
surah baqarah ayat 38
surah baqarah ayat 39
surah baqarah ayat 40
surah baqarah ayat 41

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