Quran Universe
2:163

وَإِلَٰهُكُمۡ إِلَٰهٞ وَٰحِدٞۖ لَّآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Wailahukum ilahun wahidun la ilaha illa huwa alrrahmanu alrraheemu

And your god is one God. There is no deity [worthy of worship] except Him, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

Word by word
  1. وَإِلَٰهُكُمۡAnd your God
  2. إِلَٰهٞ(is) God
  3. وَٰحِدٞۖone (only)
  4. لَّآ(there is) no
  5. إِلَٰهَgod
  6. إِلَّاexcept
  7. هُوَHim
  8. ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُthe Most Gracious
  9. ٱلرَّحِيمُthe Most Merciful
Al-Baqarah · 2:163Madinah

One God, and He is Mercy itself.

The center that everything else turns around

Who your God is
Oneno partner, no equal
none but Himworthy of worship
Ar-Rahman, Ar-RahimMost Gracious, Most Merciful
What the oneness holds
a stern, distant powerto be feared only
One, and mercifulboth in one breath

After warnings about concealment and disbelief, Allah states the core: your God is One God. Then He names Himself the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Ibn Kathir reports a hadith that Allah's Greatest Name is in this verse and in the opening of Al-'Imran.

Your life has many pulls: the boss, the bank, the family's expectations, the feed. Each feels like it needs to be obeyed. There is only One worth that. And the first thing He tells you about Himself, after His oneness, is mercy.

I have to keep everyone and everything pleased.

There is One I answer to, and He describes Himself first by mercy.

Try this

Recite this verse slowly once today, and name one thing you have treated like a master.

Related3:13:2
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God ـ Allah), La ilaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful (163)

In this Ayah, Allah mentions that He is the only deity, and that He has no partners or equals. He is Allah, the One and Only, the Sustainer, and there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. He is the Most Gracious ـ Ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful ـ Ar-Rahim. We explained the meanings of these two Names in the beginning of Surat Al-Fatihah. Shahr bin Hawshab reported that Asma' bint Yazid bin As-Sakan narrated that Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

اسْمُ اللهِ الْأَعْظَمُ فِي هَاتَيْنِ الآيَتَيْنِ

(Allah's Greatest Name is contained in these two Ayat):

وَإِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ

(And your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God ـ Allah), La ilaha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.) and:

الم - اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ

(Alif-Lam-Mim. Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), Al-Haiyul-Qaiyum (the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists).)(3:1, 2)"

Then Allah mentions some of the proof that He is alone as the deity, that He is the One who created the heavens and the earth and all of the various creatures between them, all of which testify to His Oneness. Allah said: