Surah Al-Baqara · Ayah 17·Madanī

17

ٱلَّذِى فَلَمَّآ مَا فِى لَّا ﴿١٧﴾

Translation

Saheeh International

Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see.

Compare all 34 translations →

Tafsīr

No commentary indexed for this ayah yet.

Verse DNA · this āyah at a glance

Vocabulary and recitation are counted from the morphology and the Uthmani marks; commentary reports whether an authored tafsīr entry reaches this āyah. A structural read, not a judgement — a denser strip is not a weightier verse.

Vocabulary · 10 roots in 12 of 17 words

Rarest here: ض-و-أ 6× in the Qurʾān

Recitation · 21 points across 8 rule families

  • Iẓhār shafawī3
  • Madd ṭabīʿī8
  • Ikhfāʾ2
  • Heavy rāʾ4
  • Ghunnah1
  • Lām shamsiyyah1
  • Qalqalah1
  • Heavy Allāh1

Commentary

No tafsīr entry reaches this āyah yet — the interpretive layer covers a pilot, not the whole Book.

Shape

17 words · 71 letters · 1 proper noun · āyah 17 of 286

once in the Qurʾān2–10×11–50×51–300×300+×

Similar verses by meaning

Ranked by semantic similarity over translation embeddings — a model’s proxy for meaning, not a claim about it, and not tafsīr. Verses may be kin in theme while differing entirely in wording.

  • ٱللَّهُ نُورُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِۦ كَمِشْكَوٰةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ ٱلْمِصْبَاحُ فِى زُجَاجَةٍ ٱلزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّىٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَٰرَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِىٓءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ يَهْدِى ٱللَّهُ لِنُورِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْأَمْثَٰلَ لِلنَّاسِ وَٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

    Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly…

  • أَوْ كَظُلُمَٰتٍ فِى بَحْرٍ لُّجِّىٍّ يَغْشَىٰهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ سَحَابٌ ظُلُمَٰتٌۢ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَآ أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُۥ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَىٰهَا وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ ٱللَّهُ لَهُۥ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن نُّورٍ

    Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses, some of them upon others. When one…

  • ٱلَّتِى تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى ٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةِ

    Which mounts directed at the hearts.

  • يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِـُٔوا۟ نُورَ ٱللَّهِ بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَٱللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِۦ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

    They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.

  • أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَأَصَمَّهُمْ وَأَعْمَىٰٓ أَبْصَٰرَهُمْ

    Those [who do so] are the ones that Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their vision.

  • ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱمْرَأَتَ نُوحٍ وَٱمْرَأَتَ لُوطٍ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَٰلِحَيْنِ فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمْ يُغْنِيَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا وَقِيلَ ٱدْخُلَا ٱلنَّارَ مَعَ ٱلدَّٰخِلِينَ

    Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did…

Verses built from the same roots

Ranked by shared vocabulary (idf-cosine over each verse’s root-set). Shared words are a fact about form — they do not by themselves mean two verses are about the same thing.

  • Al-Humaza 104:63 shared roots

    نَارُ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُوقَدَةُ

    و-ق-دن-و-رأ-ل-ه

  • Al-Burooj 85:52 shared roots

    ٱلنَّارِ ذَاتِ ٱلْوَقُودِ

    و-ق-دن-و-ر

  • Al-Baqara 2:205 shared roots

    يَكَادُ ٱلْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ أَبْصَٰرَهُمْ كُلَّمَآ أَضَآءَ لَهُم مَّشَوْا۟ فِيهِ وَإِذَآ أَظْلَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ قَامُوا۟ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَذَهَبَ بِسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَٰرِهِمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

    ض-و-أذ-ه-بب-ص-رظ-ل-مأ-ل-ه

  • Al-Baqara 2:205 shared roots

    يَكَادُ ٱلْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ أَبْصَٰرَهُمْ كُلَّمَآ أَضَآءَ لَهُم مَّشَوْا۟ فِيهِ وَإِذَآ أَظْلَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ قَامُوا۟ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَذَهَبَ بِسَمْعِهِمْ وَأَبْصَٰرِهِمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

    ض-و-أذ-ه-بب-ص-رظ-ل-مأ-ل-ه

  • Aal-i-Imraan 3:103 shared roots

    إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمْ وَقُودُ ٱلنَّارِ

    و-ق-دن-و-رأ-ل-ه

  • Faatir 35:202 shared roots

    وَلَا ٱلظُّلُمَٰتُ وَلَا ٱلنُّورُ

    ن-و-رظ-ل-م

Questions

Which verses are similar to Quran 2:17?

Verses close in meaning to Quran 2:17 include Quran 24:35 (Surah An-Noor), Quran 24:40 (Surah An-Noor), Quran 104:7 (Surah Al-Humaza), and Quran 61:8 (Surah As-Saff). For example, 24:35 reads: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly…” These are ranked by comparing translations of every verse in the Qurʾān, so they are a measure of similar wording and theme — not a tafsīr ruling.

What does Quran 2:17 say?

In Saheeh International, Quran 2:17 (Surah Al-Baqara, The Cow) reads: “Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see.”

Which surah is verse 2:17 in?

Quran 2:17 is āyah 17 of Surah Al-Baqara (The Cow), chapter 2 of the Qurʾān — a Medinan (Madanī) surah of 286 verses.

In how many languages can I read Quran 2:17?

Tartīl presents Quran 2:17 in the original Arabic alongside 34 translations, with audio recitation.