Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 70 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:70

أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ فِى كِتَـٰبٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

“Do you not know that Allāh knows what is in the heaven and earth? Indeed, that is in a Record.[941] Indeed that, for Allāh, is easy.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah knows everything in the heaven and the earth; all of it is kept in a Book, and none of it costs Him effort.

A reflection

The expert, and the One who knows without effort

A birdwatcher in his seventies can name over four hundred species by song alone. He learned them over fifty years of cold mornings and notebooks. At a woodland edge at dawn, he closes his eyes and names six birds in a minute. Younger walkers are amazed. He is, quietly, rather proud.

Now read the ayah. A-lam taʿlam anna Allāha yaʿlamu mā fī al-samāʾi wa-al-arḍ. Do you not know that Allah knows what is in the heaven and the earth? Not the songs of one wood, but every voice in every wood. Not the species, but each bird, and each feather, and the moment it falls. One commentator describes the reach. Not a speck's weight escapes Him, in earth or in heaven, nothing smaller and nothing greater.

Then the ayah adds words that undo every human boast: ʿalā Allāhi yasīr. That, for Allah, is easy. The birdwatcher's knowledge cost him fifty years. Our expertise, in any field, is bought with effort and kept only by practice. It fades when we stop. His knowledge costs Him nothing and never fades.

This is where pride in what we know is brought down to size. Not humiliated: the birdwatcher's skill is a real gift. But placed. Every fact we hold is one thread from a fabric He holds entire. Every expert is a beginner in a corner of His creation.

Does He tell us this because He wants our admiration? No. One commentator notes that this knowledge belongs to who He is, so nothing can be hidden from Him. Telling us adds nothing to it. The reminder came to steady His Messenger ﷺ, as the commentators explain, not to win applause.

So when you feel proud of what you know, finish the sentence honestly. I know this much, with great effort. He knows all of it, with ease.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.