Muhammad · Madani · ayah 29 of 38

Muhammad 47:29

أَمْ حَسِبَ ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ أَن لَّن يُخْرِجَ ٱللَّهُ أَضْغَـٰنَهُمْ

“Or do those in whose hearts is disease think that Allāh would never expose their [feelings of] hatred?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who carry hidden rancour assume it will stay folded away for ever; Allah says He will bring it out into the light.

A reflection

What the tide leaves showing

"Do those in whose hearts is a sickness think that Allah will never bring out their hidden rancour?" The question assumes the answer. Of course He will.

The verb is yukhrija, to bring out. The lexicons picture its root as emerging from where a thing was held. A shoot comes out of the soil. A child comes out of the womb. The dead will come out of the earth. Whatever is hidden, however deep, can be drawn out by the One who placed it there.

The commentaries explain how He brings it out. One says: He reveals their resentment against the Prophet ﷺ and the believers. Another adds that He exposes it through trials, to distinguish the true believer from the false. A third says their chests were boiling with fury, and He brought it into the open.

That should humble anyone who thinks they are good at hiding. Hypocrites are, by definition, skilled managers of appearance. They assumed their inner hostility would stay invisible. The ayah does not argue with their cleverness. It simply reminds them Who is watching.

Picture a wide estuary at the lowest spring tide of the year. The water draws back further than anyone has seen in months. Out on the mud lie things nobody knew were there. An old bicycle, a shopping trolley, a small boat's anchor, a car half sunk in silt. They were always there. The water had simply covered them.

Allah does not need a tide. But the picture helps. What is hidden is not gone. When He wills, it is shown.

The arrogance this ayah answers is the belief that a well-kept secret is safe from Him. It never was.

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.