Today in our series of posts on Selected verses from Qur'an, we have selected a very small yet very powerful verse from Qur'an. Our Lord, the Maste of the entire universe has an eye over every act of Hs servants and knows what is hidden in one's eyes and hearts. And on the Day of the Judgment, when man will not be able to speak, his eyes and hearts will speak out what they have been stealthily seeing and hiding in their hearts. On that day, no intercessor would be able to speak on his behalf, unless so permitted by the Lord. So how can escape, both in this world in the world Hereafter>
In the 19th verse of Surah 40. Al Mu'min (The Believer), also known as Surah Al Ghafir (The Forgiver), man is being cautioned to guard one's eyes and the lust and ill will hidden in them and also keep their hearts cleansed at all time to save them from wrath of Allah:
يَعۡلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ الۡاَعۡيُنِ وَمَا تُخۡفِى الصُّدُوۡرُ
(40:19) He knows even the stealthiest glance of the eyes and all the secrets that hearts conceal.
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal.) Allah tells us about His complete knowledge which encompasses all things, great and small, major and minor, so that people will take note that He knows about them and they will have the proper sense of shyness before Allah. They will pay attention to the fact that He can see them, for He knows the fraud of the eyes, even if the eyes look innocent, and He knows what the hearts conceal.
Ad-Dahhak said: ( خَآئِنَةَ الاٌّعْيُنِ the fraud of the eyes,) "A wink and a man saying that he has seen something when he has not seen it, or saying that he has not seen it when he did see it.'' Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Allah knows when the eye looks at something, whether it wants to commit an act of betrayal or not.'' This was also the view of Mujahid and Qatadah.
Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, commented on the Ayah: ( وَمَا تُخْفِى الصُّدُورُ and all that the breasts conceal.)"He knows, if you were able to, whether you would commit Zina with a woman or not.'' As-Suddi said: (and all that the breasts conceal.) meaning, of insinuating whispers.
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
((Allah) knows of (the tricks) that deceive with the eyes) Men may be taken in by tricks that deceive with the eyes, but Allah's perfect knowledge penetrates through all mysteries. "Treachery of the eyes" may mean several things; (1) a sleight of hand (literally or figuratively) may deceive in respect of the eyes of beholders, for the things that they see do not actually happen; (2) it may be the deceiver's own eyes that play false, because, for example, they show love when hatred is meant; or (3) it may be that the eyes of the beholder play him false, in that he sees things that he should not see, and thus sins with his eyes.
(And all that hearts (of men) conceal) Here we come into the region of evil motives and thoughts which may be concealed in the hearts, breasts, or minds, but which are all perfectly known to Allah.
Muhammad Asad Explanation:
God's omniscience is shown here as the reason why there can be no intercession with Him in the commonly-accepted sense of this term (cf. surah {10}, partial explanation of verse 18), given herein under:
Surah Yunis verse 18: ". Say: "Do you [think that you could] inform God of anything in the heavens or on earth that He does not know?"
Belief in the efficacy of anyone's unqualified intercession with God, or mediation between man and Him, is here equated with a denial of God's omniscience, which takes all the circumstances of the sinner and his sinning a priori into consideration. (As regards God's symbolic grant of permission to His prophets to "intercede" for their followers on the Day of Judgment
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
They stand in full view; nothing can conceal their reality. Even a stealthy glance and a heart's secret is brought into the open: "God is well aware of the stealthiest glance, and of everything the heart would conceal." (Verse 19) An eye looking stealthily will try hard to conceal its stealthy gaze, but God is well aware of it. A secret may be hidden safely in one's soul, but it is not hidden from God who knows it all.
Now you may listen to the following short clipped video to explanation of the aforesaid Ayat by eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan:
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources:
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Yusuf Ali Translation
- Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Qur'an Wiki
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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