Al-Qasas · Makki · ayah 69 of 88

Al-Qasas 28:69

وَرَبُّكَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ

“And your Lord knows what their breasts conceal and what they declare.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Lord who chooses is the Lord who sees inside: what chests keep, even from their owners, is as open to Him as speech.

A reflection

The Chooser sees what the chosen hide

This ayah comes straight after 'your Lord creates what He wills and chooses'. One early commentator joins the two. His choosing, he explains, rests on knowledge of people's hidden matters and their open ones. He selects for good those who are fit for it, knowing what they conceal.

Human selection cannot work that way. Some orchestras audition players behind a screen, so the panel hears only the playing. It is an honest attempt to stop judging by surfaces. Yet even the screen lets through only a performance on one afternoon. The panel never hears what the player resents, hopes or intends.

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah does not look at your bodies or your forms, but at your hearts. In one narration in Sahih Muslim, he pointed with his fingers to his chest as he said it. The chest is exactly the word this ayah uses.

That should humble the ego, which spends so much effort on the surface. We polish the profile, rehearse the answer, manage the impression. All of that is mā yuʿlinūn, what is declared. It is known, but it is only half of what is known.

Why does Allah announce His knowledge? Not to be admired, as if He needed an audience. Here the announcement explains why His choosing is just. A choice made with full sight of the inner life cannot be fooled by a good performance. Nor can it overlook a sincere person whom nobody noticed.

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.