Luqman · Makki · ayah 16 of 34

Luqman 31:16

يَـٰبُنَىَّ إِنَّهَآ إِن تَكُ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ فَتَكُن فِى صَخْرَةٍ أَوْ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ أَوْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَأْتِ بِهَا ٱللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌ

“[And Luqmān said], "O my son, indeed if it [i.e., a wrong] should be the weight of a mustard seed and should be within a rock or [anywhere] in the heavens or in the earth, Allāh will bring it forth. Indeed, Allāh is Subtle[1162] and Aware.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Nothing is too small or hidden for Allah to bring out, not even a mustard seed sealed in rock: your unseen good included.

A reflection

The Subtle, the All-Aware

The ayah ends with two of Allah's names: laṭīf and khabīr. One commentary explains them in a single breath. Laṭīf: subtle in knowledge, so that nothing is hidden from Him, however fine, slight or small. Khabīr: aware of the creeping of ants on a pitch-black night.

The Word Dictionary deepens the first name. The root pictures something so fine it slips in unfelt, and also a thing pressed close to your side instead of held off. Laṭīf is at once the One whose knowledge reaches into every crevice, and the One who is near. Khabīr is from a root that means knowing what a thing is inside, as you know a person after testing them. Not how it looks, but what it proves to be.

Sit with that, and the ego's most comfortable illusion gives way. Every human being keeps a private interior: thoughts never spoken, motives never admitted, small acts in rooms with no one else in them. The ego treats that interior as its own territory. This ayah announces that there is no such territory. The seed in the rock is seen.

The effect is meant to humble, not to terrify. Pride depends on managing appearances, and a person cannot manage appearances before One who knows what everything is inside. A sceptic may object that a God who sees everything sounds like surveillance. But surveillance is watching by someone who wants something from you. Allah is free of all need (31:12). His knowing is closeness, not suspicion: laṭīf, pressed close to your side.

The ego shrinks. The person underneath can finally stop performing.

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.