Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 188 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:188

قَالَ رَبِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

“He said, "My Lord is most knowing of what you do."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Dared to bring down the sky, Shuʿayb neither curses nor performs; he hands it to the Lord who knows their deeds better than they do.

A reflection

Better than you know your own scale

The people of the thicket had a precise skill. They knew exactly how much to shave off a measure without the buyer noticing (26:181-183). Their whole trade rested on knowing more than the other person.

Shuʿayb answers them with one comparative word: aʿlam, more knowing. Not simply "my Lord knows". My Lord knows what you do better than you know it yourselves.

Think of a fuel station owner who has had his pumps set to give a little less than the display shows. He knows the gap to the decimal point. He thinks that makes him the best-informed man in the story.

But he does not know what the missing fuel did. He does not know the nurse who ran dry a mile from the hospital car park. He does not know how many such gaps he has forgotten. He does not even fully know why he started. The commentators read the ayah as knowledge that encloses every deed, so that nothing of it is hidden from Him.

That is where the ego shrinks. Pride loves being the one who knows. The cheat's arrogance is the quiet sense of being cleverer than the people he deals with. This ayah puts a Knower above him whose knowledge he cannot game.

Does Allah need us to admit this, as a proud ruler needs flattery? No. His knowledge is complete whether we acknowledge it or not. The admission is for us: the one who knows he is fully known stops cheating.

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.