The Guiding Light — Page 271
S u rah al-Baqarah, Chapter 2, Verses 285-287 271 In this and the following two verses, with which the present S u rah concludes, the subject of ﺗﺰکﻴﺔ ( tazkiyah ) or purification has been dealt with as promised in the prayer of Abraham as (2:130). By reminding us that to All a h belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, the Qur ’a n teaches us that since everything is God’s, we must avoid all those things which He requires us to avoid and adopt all those which He requires us to adopt. If we obey the commandments of God, which are meant for our own good, He will cause us to thrive and prosper, for He is the controller of all causes and all effects. The verse embodies the great secret of attaining purification. That secret is, that if you wish to become pure, you should begin with the root, i. e. , you should make your hearts pure. Says the Holy Prophet sa : “In the body of man there is a piece of flesh; if this piece of flesh is sound, the whole body becomes sound; if it is corrupt, the whole body becomes corrupt. Behold! It is the heart” (Bukh a r i ). The particle ﺑﺎ (b a ) for in the Arabic clause rendered as, All a h will call you to account for it, means: (a) by means of or on the basis of (b) for or because of.