Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 70 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:70

وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ

“And every soul will be fully compensated [for] what it did; and He is most knowing[1361] of what they do.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Every soul will be paid the full weight of what it did, by the One who already knows every deed better than its doer.

A reflection

He knows the full footage

Wa-huwa aʿlamu bimā yafʿalūn: and He knows best what they do. One commentary explains why this clause closes the scene. If a judge did not know the details and manner of what people did, he might not judge truly. Since Allah knows every measure and every circumstance of their deeds, error in His judgement is impossible. Another commentary adds: nothing of their deeds escapes Him.

Think of what that means for the ego's favourite project: managing how we are seen. Most of us edit. We show the best angle, the kind word, the generous moment. We crop out the impatience and the shortcuts.

Picture a young man who posts a highlight video of his year. A charity run, a graduation, a trip with friends, a photo with his grandmother. It looks like a good life, and in many ways it is. But he knows the full footage. The arguments he started, the promises he broke, the hours wasted. The edit fools his followers. It does not fool him.

The ayah says there is One who knows the full footage better than he does. Not only what he did, but why, and with what intention, and what he would have done if he could.

That should humble every proud self-presentation. The public version of me is not the one that will be weighed.

A sceptic might ask whether a God who knows everything is simply intrusive. But knowledge is the only basis for true fairness. A judge who sees only the edit is easily fooled. The One who sees the whole will neither be fooled by the guilty nor miss the hidden goodness of the overlooked.

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.