Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:152
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ
(*Remember Me, and I will remember you.*)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — exalted be His mention — means thereby: Remember Me, O believers, by obeying Me in what I command you and in what I forbid you, and I will remember you through My mercy toward you and My forgiveness for you. As in:
2312 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ibn Lahīʿa, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "Remember Me, and I will remember you" — he said: Remember Me by obeying Me, and I will remember you through My forgiveness.
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Some explained this as being derived from "remembrance" (al-dhikr) in the sense of praise and laudation.
* Mention of those who said that:
1313 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement: "Remember Me, and I will remember you, and be grateful to Me and be not ungrateful to Me" — Allah remembers whoever remembers Him, increases whoever is grateful to Him, and punishes whoever is ungrateful (kufr) to Him.
2314 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to me, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Remember Me, and I will remember you" — he said: There is no servant who remembers Allah but that Allah remembers him. No believer remembers Him but that He remembers him with mercy, and no disbeliever (kāfir) remembers Him but that He remembers him with punishment (ʿadhāb).
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The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلا تَكْفُرُونِ (152)
(*And be grateful to Me and be not ungrateful to Me* (2:152))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted — exalted be His mention — means thereby: Be grateful to Me, O believers, for the favor I have bestowed upon you in the form of Islam and the guidance to the religion which I have prescribed for My prophets and My chosen ones. "And be not ungrateful to Me (kufr)" — He says: And do not deny My beneficence toward you, lest I deprive you of My favor which I have bestowed upon you; rather, be grateful to Me for it, and I will increase you and complete My favor upon you, and I will guide you to that to which I have guided those of My servants with whom I am pleased. For I have promised My creation that I will increase whoever is grateful to Me, and will deprive whoever is ungrateful (kufr) to Me and will take away what I have given him.
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The Arabs say: "naṣaḥtu laka wa-shakartu laka" ("I was sincere to you and I was grateful to you," with the preposition *li-*), and they almost never say "naṣaḥtuka" (without the preposition). Sometimes, however, they say "shakartuka wa-naṣaḥtuka." Among that is the saying of the poet:
They brought upon you adversity and prosperity together; why then did you not thank the people, when you did not fight?
And al-Nābigha said, using "naṣaḥtuka":
I was sincere to the Banū ʿAwf, yet they did not accept my messenger, nor did my entreaties avail with them.
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We have already demonstrated earlier that the meaning of "al-shukr" (gratitude) is the praising of the man for his praiseworthy deeds, and that the meaning of "al-kufr" (ingratitude/disbelief) is the covering up of a matter — as we have explained before; that makes repeating it in this place unnecessary.
