Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 58

Mufti Taqi Usmani

When We said, “Enter this town, and eat to your heart’s content wherever you wish in it; and enter the gate prostrating yourselves and say: HiTTah (we seek forgiveness), so that We forgive your errors. And We shall give much more to those who do good.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when We said, “Enter this city and eat freely from wherever you please; enter the gate with humility, saying, ‘Absolve us.’ We will forgive your sins and multiply the reward for the good-doers.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when We said, “Enter this town [of Jerusalem] and eat freely from wherever you wish, and enter the gate bowing down humbly and say, ‘Absolve us.’ We will forgive you your sins and increase [the reward of] those who do good.”

A. J. Arberry

And when We said, 'Enter this township, and eat easefully of it wherever you will, and enter in at the gate, prostrating, and say, Unburdening; We will forgive you your transgressions, and increase the good-doers.'

Abdul Haleem

Remember when We said, ‘Enter this town and eat freely there as you will, but enter its gate humbly and say, “Relieve us!” Then We shall forgive you your sins and increase the rewards of those who do good.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time We said: enter this town and eat plenteously therefrom as ye list, and enter the gate prostrating yourselves and say: forgiveness; We shall forgive you your trespasses, and anon We shall increase unto the well-doers.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And remember We said; "Enter this town, and eat of the plenty therein as ye wish; but enter the gate with humility, in posture and in words, and We shall forgive you your faults and increase (the portion of) those who do good."

Abul Ala Maududi

Then call to mind the time when We said, "Go into the town' before you and eat to your hearts' content therein, wherefrom you will, but enter the gate bowing down with humility, repeating 'hittatun'; We will forgive your sins and increase the reward of the righteous".

Ahmed Ali

And remember, We said to you: "Enter this city, eat wherever you like, as much as you please, but pass through the gates in humility and say: 'May our sins be forgiven.' We shall forgive your trespasses and give those who do good abundance.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when We said, “Enter this town and eat freely from what is in it, and enter the gate whilst prostrating, and say, ‘May our sins be forgiven’ – We will forgive you your sins; and We will soon increase the reward for the righteous.”

Ali Quli Qarai

And when We said, ‘Enter this town, and eat thereof freely whencesoever you wish, and enter while prostrating at the gate, and say, ‘‘Relieve [us of the burden of our sins],’’ so that We may forgive your iniquities and We will soon enhance the virtuous.’

Ali Ünal

And remember (after you had been wandering in the desert, how We guided you to a town) when We commanded: "Enter this town and eat (of the fruits) thereof as you may desire to your hearts’ content. Enter it (not through different ways with the aim of plundering and massacring its people but) through its gate humbly and in utmost submission to God. Say words of imploring forgiveness and loyalty to Him, that We forgive you your misdeeds." We will increase the reward for those devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And when We said, `Enter this (near-at-hand) township and eat from it as you wish freely, and enter the gate submissively and go on praying, "(O Lord!) relieve us of the burden of our faults." We shall (then) protect you against the evil consequences of your faults and We shall multiply the reward of those who do good to others.´

English Literal

And when We said: "Enter this village/urban city, so eat from it where/when you willed/wanted easily/comfortably and enter the door/entrance prostrating and say humility/forgiveness (be humble) ,We (will) forgive for you your sins/wrongs/mistakes , and We will increase the good doers .

Faridul Haque

And when We said, “Enter this town and eat freely from what is in it, and enter the gate whilst prostrating, and say, ‘May our sins be forgiven’ - We will forgive you your sins; and We will soon increase the reward for the righteous.”

Hamid S. Aziz

And when We said, "Enter this city and eat there from as plentifully as you wish; and enter the gate worshipping and say "hittatun" (repentance and surrender to Allah). So will We pardon you your sins and give increase unto those who do right."

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) when We said: "Enter this town (Jerusalem) and eat bountifully therein with pleasure and delight wherever you wish, and enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility) and say: 'Forgive us,' and We shall forgive you your sins and shall increase (reward) for the good-doers."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when We said: Enter this city, then eat from it a plenteous (food) whence you wish, and enter the gate submissively, and make petition for forgiveness. We will forgive you your wrongs and increase the reward of those who do good (to others).

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when We said: Enter this city, then eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish, and enter the gate making obeisance, and say, forgiveness. We will forgive you your wrongs and give more to those who do good (to others).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when We said: Go into this township and eat freely of that which is therein, and enter the gate prostrate, and say: "Repentance." We will forgive you your sins and will increase (reward) for the right-doers.

Muhammad Sarwar

(Children of Israel, recall My favors) when We told you, "Enter this city, enjoy eating whatever you want therein, prostrate yourselves and ask forgiveness when passing through the gate, and We shall forgive your sins, and add to the rewards of the righteous ones".

Qaribullah & Darwish

'Enter this village' We said, 'and eat wherever you will and as much as you wish. Make your way prostrating through the gates, saying: "Unburdening." We shall forgive you your sins and We will increase the gooddoers'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (remember) when We said: "Enter this town (Jerusalem) and eat bountifully therein with pleasure and delight wherever you wish, and enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility) and say: `Forgive us,' and We shall forgive you your sins and shall increase (reward) for the good-doers."

Wahiduddin Khan

Remember when We said, "Enter this land and eat freely wherever you will. Make your way through the gates, bowing down and saying, "God! Forgive us our sins." We shall forgive you your sins and We shall give abundance to those who do good."

Talal Itani

And recall that We said, “Enter this town, and eat plentifully from it whatever you wish; but enter the gate humbly, and say, 'Pardon.' We will forgive your sins, and give increase to the virtuous.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And when We said, to them, after they came out of the wilderness, `Enter this city, either the Holy House [of Jerusalem] (Bayt al-Maqdis) or Jericho (Arh), and eat freely therein wherever you will, plentifully and without any restrictions, and enter it at the gate, its gate, prostrating, bowing, and say, `our request is for [an] exoneration', that is, `That we be exonerated from our transgressions', and We shall forgive (naghfir; a variant reading has one of the two passive forms yughfar or tughfar, `[they] will be forgiven') you your transgressions and We shall give more to those who are virtuous' -- through obedience -- in terms of reward.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Jews were Rebellious instead of Appreciative when They gained Victory

Allah tells;

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُواْ هَـذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُواْ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِيْتُمْ رَغَداً وَادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّداً

And (remember) when We said;"Enter this town (Jerusalem) and eat bountifully therein with pleasure and delight wherever you wish, and enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility),

Allah admonished the Jews for avoiding Jihad and not entering the holy land as they had been ordered to do when they came from Egypt with Musa.

They were also commanded to fight the disbelieving Amaliq (Canaanites) dwelling in the holy land at that time. But they did not want to fight, because they were weak and exhausted.

Allah punished them by causing them to become lost, and to continue wandering, as Allah has stated in Surah Al-Ma'idah.

The correct opinion about the meaning of,

`the holy land' mentioned here is that it was Bayt Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem), as As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi bin Anas, Qatadah and Abu Muslim Al-Asfahani, as well as others have stated.

Musa said,

يَاقَوْمِ ادْخُلُوا الاٌّرْضَ المُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِى كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَرْتَدُّوا

O people! Enter the holy land which Allah has assigned to you and turn not back (in flight). (5;21)

However, some scholars said that;

the holy land is Jericho, (Ariha') and this opinion was mentioned from Ibn Abbas and Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd.

After the years of wandering ended forty years later, in the company of Yuwsha` (Joshua) bin Nun, Allah allowed the Children of Israel to conquer the holy land on the eve of a Friday. On that day, the sun was kept from setting for a little more time, until victory was achieved. When the Children of Israel conquered the holy land, they were commanded to enter its gate while,
سُجَّداً
(prostrating) in appreciation to Allah for making them victorious, triumphant, returning them to their land and saving them from being lost and wandering.

Al-Awfi said that Ibn Abbas said that,
وَادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّداً
(and enter the gate Sujjadan) means,

"While bowing".

Ibn Jarir reported Ibn Abbas saying,
وَادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّداً
(and enter the gate in prostration) means,

"Through a small door while bowing."

Al-Hakim narrated it, and Ibn Abi Hatim added,

"And they went through the door backwards!"

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said that;

they were ordered to prostrate on their faces when they entered the city, but Ar-Razi discounted this explanation.

It was also said that;

the Sujud mentioned here means, `submissiveness', for actually entering while prostrating is not possible.

Khasif said that Ikrimah said that Ibn Abbas said,

"The door mentioned here was facing the Qiblah."

Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, As-Suddi, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said that;

the door is the door of Hittah in Iylya, which is Jerusalem.

Ar-Razi also reported that;

some of them said that it was a door in the direction of the Qiblah.

Khasif said that Ikrimah said that Ibn Abbas said that;

the Children of Israel entered the door sideways.

As-Suddi said that Abu Sa`id Al-Azdy said that Abu Al-Kanud said that Abdullah bin Mas`ud said that;

they were commanded to,
وَادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّداً
(enter the gate in prostration (or bowing with humility)) but instead, they entered while their heads were raised in defiance.

Allah said next,

وَقُولُواْ حِطَّةٌ

and say;`Hittah',

Ibn Abbas commented,

"Seek Allah's forgiveness."

Al-Hasan and Qatadah said that it means,

"Say, `Relieve us from our errors."

نَّغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَايَاكُمْ وَسَنَزِيدُ الْمُحْسِنِينَ




and We shall forgive you your sins and shall increase (reward) for the good-doers.

Here is the reward for fulfilling Allah's commandment.

This Ayah means, "If you implement what We commanded you, We will forgive your sins and multiply your good deeds."

In summary, upon achieving victory, the Children of Israel were commanded to submit to Allah in tongue and deed and, to admit to their sins and seek forgiveness for them, to be grateful to Allah for the blessings He gave them, hastening to do the deeds that Allah loves, as He said,

إِذَا جَأءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ


وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَجاً


فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوِبَا


When there comes the help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad against your enemies) and the conquest (of Makkah). And you see that the people enter Allah's religion (Islam) in crowds. So glorify the praises of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance. (110;1-3).

Allah said