Ya-Sin · Makki · ayah 16 of 83

Ya-Sin 36:16

قَالُوا۟ رَبُّنَا يَعْلَمُ إِنَّآ إِلَيْكُمْ لَمُرْسَلُونَ

“They said, "Our Lord knows that we are messengers to you,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Called liars, the messengers do not trade insults; they call the one Witness who cannot be fooled, and say the same sentence again, firmer.

A reflection

'God knows' is not a figure of speech

Halfway through an argument about money, a husband throws up his hands. 'God knows I've tried,' he says, and walks out of the kitchen. It is a phrase people use to end conversations. Neither of them, in that moment, is thinking about God.

In English, 'God knows' has worn down into a shrug. God knows where my keys are. God knows what she sees in him. Most of us would read rabbunā yaʿlamu, our Lord knows, with the same flatness: a pious way of saying 'honestly'.

The commentaries treat it as far heavier. The plainest of them says it runs in the place of an oath. Another explains that 'Allah knows' and 'Allah bears witness' work exactly like swearing. A classical commentator draws out why. To say 'Allah knows' about something untrue is to attribute ignorance to Allah. That is why it carries the weight of an oath, and the danger of one.

So when the messengers answer 'you are nothing but liars' with 'our Lord knows', they are not shrugging. They are calling a witness into the room. The only witness who cannot be mistaken, flattered or deceived.

That reframes the casual phrase in our own mouths. Before saying 'God knows I've tried', it is worth asking whether He does. Whether, if the One who knows were asked, He would agree. Sometimes the honest answer is yes, and the phrase is a true comfort. Sometimes it is a way of claiming a witness we have not earned.

The messengers could say it because it was true. That is the condition. Invoke His knowledge only where you would be glad for it to be checked.

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.