I answer … let them answer
أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟
ujību daʿwata l-dāʿi idhā daʿāni fal-yastajībū lī — I answer the call of the caller whenever he calls Me; so let them answer Me
In (2:186) the root ج و ب appears twice, once as God's answering (form IV) and once as the servants' answering (form X), setting the two acts of answering against each other so that the second is presented as the counterpart of the first.
The verse builds a mirror on the root ج و ب. First God speaks of himself: أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ, 'I answer the call of the caller whenever he calls Me' (2:186). The verb is form IV, first person singular: God is the one who answers, and the caller is the one who calls upon him. Immediately after, the same root returns in a different form and a different subject: فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى, 'so let them answer Me' (2:186), a form X verb, third person masculine plural, in the jussive. The prefixed فَ links the two: God's answering is stated first, and the servants' answering is commanded as what follows from it. The mirror is not exact symmetry: the two verbs differ in form (IV versus X), person (1S versus 3MP) and mood (indicative versus jussive), and the objects run in opposite directions — God answers the caller's call, while the servants are to answer God. The verse thus presents answering as an action that passes between the two parties in both directions: one party calls and is answered, and that same party is commanded to answer in return. The stated outcome of the commanded answering is given in the following words: وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ, 'and let them trust in Me, so that they may be rightly guided' (2:186).
Where it occurs
- 2:186 Both occurrences stand in one verse: أُجِيبُ states God's answering of the caller, and فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ commands the servants to answer God in return.
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