Surah Al-Baqara · Ayah 20·Madanī

20

لَهُم فِيهِ وَإِذَآ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَوْ إِنَّ عَلَىٰ ﴿٢٠﴾

Translation

Saheeh International

The lightning almost snatches away their sight. Every time it lights [the way] for them, they walk therein; but when darkness comes over them, they stand [still]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their sight. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.

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 · 14 roots in 18 of 25 words

Rarest here: ض-و-أ 6× in the Qurʾān

Recitation · 27 points across 8 rule families

  • Madd ṭabīʿī8
  • Lām qamariyyah3
  • Qalqalah2
  • Heavy rāʾ3
  • Iẓhār shafawī6
  • Ghunnah2
  • Ikhfāʾ1
  • Heavy Allāh2

Commentary

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

Shape

25 words · 100 letters · 2 proper nouns · āyah 20 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 لَمْ يَكُونُوا۟ مُعْجِزِينَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا كَانَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْلِيَآءَ يُضَٰعَفُ لَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَمَا كَانُوا۟ يُبْصِرُونَ

    Those were not causing failure [to Allah] on earth, nor did they have besides Allah any protectors. For them the punishment will be multiplied. They were not able to hear, nor did…

  • إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ إِذَا مَسَّهُمْ طَٰٓئِفٌ مِّنَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ تَذَكَّرُوا۟ فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْصِرُونَ

    Indeed, those who fear Allah - when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight.

  • أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَكَانُوٓا۟ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُۥ مِن شَىْءٍ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَلَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ عَلِيمًا قَدِيرًا

    Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? And they were greater than them in power. But Allah is not to be caused failure by…

  • فَوَقَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ شَرَّ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمِ وَلَقَّىٰهُمْ نَضْرَةً وَسُرُورًا

    So Allah will protect them from the evil of that Day and give them radiance and happiness

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-Qiyaama 75:72 shared roots

    فَإِذَا بَرِقَ ٱلْبَصَرُ

    ب-ر-قب-ص-ر

  • Al-Baqara 2:175 shared roots

    مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِى ظُلُمَٰتٍ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ

    ض-و-أذ-ه-بب-ص-رظ-ل-مأ-ل-ه

  • Al-Baqara 2:175 shared roots

    مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِى ظُلُمَٰتٍ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ

    ض-و-أذ-ه-بب-ص-رظ-ل-مأ-ل-ه

  • Ash-Shu'araa 26:152 shared roots

    قَالَ كَلَّا فَٱذْهَبَا بِـَٔايَٰتِنَآ إِنَّا مَعَكُم مُّسْتَمِعُونَ

    ذ-ه-بس-م-ع

  • An-Nisaa 4:1334 shared roots

    إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ وَيَأْتِ بِـَٔاخَرِينَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ قَدِيرًا

    ذ-ه-بق-د-رش-ي-أأ-ل-ه

  • An-Noor 24:435 shared roots

    أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزْجِى سَحَابًا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُۥ رُكَامًا فَتَرَى ٱلْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَٰلِهِۦ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِنۢ بَرَدٍ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُۥ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِۦ يَذْهَبُ بِٱلْأَبْصَٰرِ

    ب-ر-قك-و-دذ-ه-بب-ص-رش-ي-أ

Questions

Which verses are similar to Quran 2:20?

Verses close in meaning to Quran 2:20 include Quran 47:23 (Surah Muhammad), Quran 61:8 (Surah As-Saff), Quran 11:20 (Surah Hud), and Quran 7:201 (Surah Al-A'raaf). For example, 47:23 reads: “Those [who do so] are the ones that Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their vision.” 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 2:20 say?

In Saheeh International, Quran 2:20 (Surah Al-Baqara, The Cow) reads: “The lightning almost snatches away their sight. Every time it lights [the way] for them, they walk therein; but when darkness comes over them, they stand [still]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their sight. Indeed, Allah…”

Which surah is verse 2:20 in?

Quran 2:20 is āyah 20 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 2:20?

Tartīl presents Quran 2:20 in the original Arabic alongside 34 translations, with audio recitation.