Ar-Ra'd · Madani · ayah 8 of 43

Ar-Ra'd 13:8

ٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمِلُ كُلُّ أُنثَىٰ وَمَا تَغِيضُ ٱلْأَرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ ۖ وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ عِندَهُۥ بِمِقْدَارٍ

“Allāh knows what every female carries[629] and what the wombs lose [prematurely] or exceed.[630] And everything with Him is by due measure.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every pregnancy on earth, every loss and every long wait, is known to Allah in full, and nothing with Him is off its measure.

A reflection

Known completely before you knew anything

In many families there is a man who mentions, at every gathering, that he weighed ten pounds at birth. He says it as if he had done it himself. It is a funny vanity, and a revealing one. Even the womb, where we contributed nothing, becomes a place to collect credit.

This ayah walks straight into that room. Allāhu yaʿlamu mā taḥmilu kullu unthā: Allah knows what every female carries. Not 'Allah knew you once'. He knows, now and always, every carried thing, in every womb, of every creature.

The Quran draws the lesson for our pride in another place. 'He knows you best, from when He produced you from the earth and when you were foetuses in your mothers' wombs. So do not claim purity for yourselves' (53:32). The womb is cited precisely to stop us praising ourselves. Before you had a name, an opinion or a reputation, you were a load being carried. You were known completely by Someone you did not yet know.

The two Sahihs report the Prophet ﷺ describing what is written in that early dark. An angel is sent and commanded to write four things. The person's provision, lifespan and deeds, and whether wretched or happy. All of it is settled before the first cry.

Someone may ask: why does Allah announce His own knowledge like this? Is it not a kind of boasting? But a person boasts to win something: admiration, safety, rank. Allah needs none of these. The commentaries note who the ayah addresses. These are people who denied He could remake them from dust, while never denying that He shapes them in the womb, stage after stage. The announcement is not for His glory. It is evidence handed to the doubter.

It is also a humbling mirror for the rest of us. Whatever you are proud of, you were once its opposite. Small, silent, unknown to yourself, and entirely known to Him.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.