“Remember Allah's favor upon you” and what follows it
ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
udhkurū niʿmata llāhi ʿalaykum — Remember Allah's favor upon you
In five of the seven verses the imperative is followed by إِذْ plus a clause naming a specific past act of deliverance or gift, converting the general noun niʿma into a particular instance the audience is told to call to mind; in 2:231 and 5:7 the favor is instead coordinated with a second object of remembering (the sent-down Book and wisdom; the compact).
The frame is identical in all seven verses: a 2nd-person plural imperative of ذكر, then نِعْمَةَ (feminine noun, accusative) in construct with ٱللَّهِ, then the preposition عَلَيْكُمْ with a 2nd-masculine-plural pronoun. In five cases (14:6, 33:9, 3:103, 5:11, 5:20) the command is followed by إِذْ introducing a specific past situation; in 2:231 it is followed by a coordinated object with no إِذْ, and in 5:7 by the compact, after which comes إِذْ قُلْتُمْ. In the five إِذْ verses the frame names an undefined benefit (niʿma) and binds it to a concrete event the audience already knows; in 2:231 and 5:7 it coordinates niʿma with a further object instead. The fillers vary widely. In (14:6) and (5:20) the speaker is Moses addressing his people; the filler is deliverance from Pharaoh's people in the first, and the placing of prophets, possession, and gifts in the second. In (33:9) and (5:11) the addressees are called “O you who have attained faith / believed,” and the filler is a military threat — forces coming at them in the first, a people resolving to stretch out hands against them in the second — with Allah's intervention described. In (3:103) the filler is a change of relation: the addressees were enemies, then hearts were brought into harmony, and they were on the brink of a pit from the Fire and were snatched from it; the verse then repeats the root with بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ (“by His favor”). In (5:7) the filler is a compact and a pledge (“We have heard and we have obeyed”), and in (2:231) the command is coordinated with remembering “what He has sent down to you of the Book and the wisdom.” In the five إِذْ verses the frame files acts ranging from rescue to reconciliation under the single noun niʿma; in 2:231 and 5:7 a second object (the sent-down Book and wisdom; the compact) is coordinated alongside niʿma rather than filed under it.
Where it occurs
- 14:6 Moses tells his people to remember the favor, then إِذْ names the deliverance from Pharaoh's people.
- 2:231 The command to remember the favor is joined with remembering what was sent down of the Book and the wisdom.
- 33:9 Addressed to those who have attained faith; إِذْ names forces that came at them and the wind and unseen forces sent against them.
- 3:103 Addressed to all; إِذْ names the change from enemies to brothers and rescue from the brink of the Fire; the root recurs in بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ.
- 5:11 Addressed to those who have believed; إِذْ names a people who resolved to stretch out hands and whose hands were restrained.
- 5:20 Moses tells his people to remember the favor; إِذْ names prophets placed among them, possession, and what was given them.
- 5:7 The command to remember the favor is joined with remembering His compact and the pledge “We have heard and we have obeyed.”
All Qur'anic expressions