Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 220 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:220

إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ

“Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

He alone hears every word you say and knows every meaning you could not say, so the one He has heard is never unheard.

A reflection

Nobody in His hearing has to shout

Listen to a radio phone-in on a busy night. Thousands of people ring. One voice at a time is put through, and everyone else hears hold music. Most callers are never heard at all.

Now set beside it four words: innahu huwa al-samīʿ al-ʿalīm. Indeed He, He alone, is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. One commentary points out the force of that doubled He. The hearing and knowing are His in the full sense, and no one else's. The sentence is nominal, the commentary adds, which marks them as always His. His hearing did not begin when the first voice spoke.

So picture every voice on the earth at this moment. Every language, every whisper, every prayer said under the breath in a hospital corridor. None is put on hold. No voice is drowned by a louder one.

Once, travelling with his Companions, the Prophet ﷺ heard them raise their voices loudly in praise as they crested a valley. He told them to go easy on themselves. You are not calling on one who is deaf or absent, he said. You are calling on One who is All-Hearing and near (Sahih al-Bukhari).

That is a gentle blow to the ego. We spend much of our lives raising our voices to be noticed: talking over others, posting, repeating ourselves. In His hearing that whole effort becomes unnecessary. The quiet person is heard exactly as fully as the loud one.

And why does He tell us He hears? Not because He needs us to admire it. The names are told for the speaker's sake, so the one who prays stops shouting and starts speaking.

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.