Tafsir of Surah Ar-Ra'd - Verse 10

Allah's Knowledge encompasses all Things Apparent and Hidden

Allah declares that His knowledge is encompassing all of His creation, those who declare their speech or hide it, He hears it and nothing of it ever escapes His observation. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَإِن تَجْهَرْ بِالْقَوْلِ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ وَأَخْفَى

(And if you speak aloud, then verily, He knows the secret and that which is yet more hidden.)20:7, and,

وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ

(And (Allah) knows what you conceal and what you reveal.) `A'ishah said, "All praise is due to Allah Whose hearing has encompassed all voices! By Allah, she who came to complain about her husband to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was speaking while I was in another part of the room, yet I did not hear some of what she said. Allah sent down,

قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِى تُجَادِلُكَ فِى زَوْجِهَا وَتَشْتَكِى إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ يَسْمَعُ تَحَاوُرَكُمآ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ

(Indeed Allah has heard the statement of her that disputes with you concerning her husband and complains to Allah. And Allah hears the argument between you both. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer.)58:1 Allah said next,

وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ

(whether he be hid by night), in his house in the darkness of the night,

وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ

(or goes forth freely by day.) moves about during the daylight; both are encompassed by Allah's knowledge. Allah said in other Ayat,

أَلا حِينَ يَسْتَغْشُونَ ثِيَابَهُمْ

(Surely, even when they cover themselves with their garments.) 11:5, and,

وَمَا تَكُونُ فِى شَأْنٍ وَمَا تَتْلُواْ مِنْهُ مِن قُرْءَانٍ وَلاَ تَعْمَلُونَ مِنْ عَمَلٍ إِلاَّ كُنَّا عَلَيْكُمْ شُهُودًا إِذْ تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ وَمَا يَعْزُبُ عَن رَّبِّكَ مِن مِّثْقَالِ ذَرَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرْضِ وَلاَ فِى السَّمَآءِ وَلاَ أَصْغَرَ مِن ذَلِكَ وَلا أَكْبَرَ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

(Neither you do any deed nor recite any portion of the Qur'an nor you do any deed, but We are witness thereof when you are doing it. And nothing is hidden from your Lord (so much as) the a speck of dust on the earth or in the heaven. Not what is less than that or what is greater than that but is (written) in a Clear Record.)10:61

The Guardian Angels

Allah said next,

لَهُ مُعَقِّبَـتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ

(For him (each person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.) Allah states that there are angels who take turns guarding each servant, some by night and some by day. These angels protect each person from harm and accidents. There are also angels who take turns recording the good and evil deeds, some angels do this by day and some by night. There are two angels, one to the right and one to the left of each person, recording the deeds. The angel to the right records the good deeds, while the angel to the left records the evil deeds. There are also two angels that guard and protect each person, one from the back and one from in front. Therefore, there are four angels that surround each person by day and they are replaced by four others at night, two scribes and two guards. An authentic Hadith states,

«يَتَعَاقَبُونَ فِيكُمْ مَلَائِكَةٌ بِاللَّيْلِ وَمَلَائِكَةٌ بالنَّهَارِ، وَيَجْتَمِعُونَ فِي صَلَاةِ الصُّبْحِ وَصَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ، فَيَصْعَدُ إِلَيْهِ الَّذِينَ بَاتُوا فِيكُمْ فَيَسْأَلُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ: كَيْفَ تَرَكْتُمْ عِبَادِي؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: أَتَيْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ، وَتَرَكْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّون»

(Angels take turns around you, some at night and some by day, and all of them assemble together at the time of the Fajr and `Asr prayers. Then those who have stayed with you throughout the night, ascend to Allah Who asks them, and He knows the answer better than they about you, "How have you left My servants" They reply, "As we have found them praying, we have left them praying.") Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا وَقَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَقَرِينُهُ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَة»

(Verily, every one among you has his companion from the Jinn and his companion from the angels.") They said, "And you too, O Allah's Messenger" He said,

«وَإِيَّايَ، وَلَكِنَّ اللهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ، فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْر»

(And I too, except that Allah has helped me against him, so he only orders me to do good.) Muslim collected this Hadith. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ibrahim said, "Allah revealed to a Prophet from among the Children of Israel, `Say to your nation: every people of a village or a house who used to obey Allah but changed their behavior to disobeying Him, then He will take away from them what they like and exchange it for what they dislike." Ibrahim next said that this statement has proof in Allah's Book,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ

(Verily, Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves.)

سَوَاءٌ مِّنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ‌ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ‌ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِ‌بٌ بِالنَّهَارِ‌

Alike [ for Him ] is he, from among you, who speaks quietly and he who speaks aloud, and he who hides in the night and he who walks out in the day - 10.

The expression: أَسَرَّ‌ الْقَوْلَ (speaks quietly) is a derivation from: اَسرَار (asrar) which means secret talk and: جَهَرَ (jahr) means open talk. When one talks to be heard by others, it is called jahr and what one says for his own hearing is called sirr. The word: مُسْتَخْفٍ (mustakhfin) refers to one who hides, and: سَارِ‌بٌ بِالنَّهَارِ‌ (sarib) means one who walks his way freely.

The verse means that, because of the all-encompassing knowledge of Allah Ta` ala, the one who talks quietly or secretly and the one who talks loudly and openly are both equal in His sight. He hears and knows what they say, identically and uniformly. Similarly, there is the person hiding in the darkness of the night and there is another walking freely in open daylight. Both of them are alike in terms of His knowledge and power, since He knows all inward and outward conditions of both alike and His power surrounds them both alike and just no one is outside His power and control. An elaboration of this point appears in the next verse in the following words:

The womb of a mother is a wonderful factory. The wonderful aspect of the human produce is that it conforms to a ‘fixed proportion’. There is a constant balance between ‘demand and supply’. For instance, this wonderful plant which has been working for thousands of years, produces men as well as women, but a constant proportion is maintained between these two sexes. It never happens that this plant produces males only or females only. An event like war sometimes temporarily disturbs this proportion. But it has been observed, strangely enough, that after a certain period this original proportion is soon restored. The same is true of the balance of talent in the men and women coming out of this plant. Research has shown that those being born are not of a uniform capacity. There is a great diversity in their talents. This diversity is of importance in civilization, because persons of diverse capacities are required to manage the affairs of a civilization. The plant of mothers is quietly and successfully producing persons with different talents, as if it were receiving ‘orders’ from outside which led to how the persons in the womb were constituted. If there had not been this diversity in the production of human beings, the whole system of civilization would have descended into chaos and all development would have ceased. The existence of this planning in the working of the mother’s womb clearly shows that there is a Planner behind it. Without conscious planning, a system marked by such regularity could never exist. This also proves that the Creator and Lord of this world is a Being Who is aware not only of whatever is plain for everyone to see, but also of what is unseen and hidden. Whatever happens in a woman’s womb is apparently a secret matter. But the above-mentioned details show that God is completely aware of it. Then this Being Who is aware of the open and hidden aspects of everything is bound to know the hidden, and open aspects pertaining to human beings. Belief in angels is also proved by this, because it is an extension of the present system of keeping ‘watch’.