An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 81 of 176

An-Nisa 4:81

وَيَقُولُونَ طَاعَةٌ فَإِذَا بَرَزُوا۟ مِنْ عِندِكَ بَيَّتَ طَآئِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى تَقُولُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَكْتُبُ مَا يُبَيِّتُونَ ۖ فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

“And they say, "[We pledge] obedience." But when they leave you, a group of them spend the night determining to do other than what you say. But Allāh records what they plan by night. So leave them alone and rely upon Allāh. And sufficient is Allāh as Disposer of affairs.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Some promise obedience to your face and craft the opposite once they leave; Allah records it all, so turn aside and lean on Him.

A reflection

A water-skin stitched shut

Wa-llāhu yaktubu mā yubayyitūn: and Allah writes down what they plot.

The root of yaktubu has a vivid first picture. A desert Arab kataba his water-skin when he stitched its leather shut with two thongs. He bound it so tightly that not a drop could escape. Writing took the same name, because it binds word to word until they hold. What is spoken may scatter. What is written is sewn shut.

Commentators give two readings. Allah has it recorded in their own records, to be repaid. Or He writes it into what He reveals to His Prophet ﷺ, exposing their secrets. Either way, the plot they thought private has not leaked away. It is sealed, and kept.

That is a humbling thought for every clever ego. We tend to believe that what we do out of sight has no shape. A message deleted, a story adjusted, a plan made in a closed room. The ayah says each one is being stitched into a record that holds every drop.

Picture a university student at one in the morning, drafting a sick note from a doctor who does not exist. He is pleased with the letterhead and the signature. The deadline extension will be easy. He clicks save, and for a moment he pictures the page being written somewhere else as well, by Someone who saw every keystroke. He closes the laptop and does not send it.

Does Allah need to tell us He records everything? He is the Free of need (35:15). Telling us is a mercy. It warns us while the record can still be changed by repentance.

Pride thinks it is unseen. Humility lives as one who is written down.

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.