At-Takwir · Makki · ayah 24 of 29

At-Takwir 81:24

وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ٱلْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍ

“And he [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] is not a withholder of [knowledge of] the unseen.[1873]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The most precious knowledge ever given to a human being was handed out freely, to friends and enemies, with nothing held back.

A reflection

Too precious to keep

The root of ḍanīn, ḍ-n-n, is about clutching what is precious. The Arabs called a treasure ʿilq maḍanna: too valuable to let go. 'He is my ḍinn' meant the friend I hold on to above all others. The well of Zamzam was nicknamed al-Maḍnūna, the guarded one, because it was so precious.

So a ḍanīn is someone who holds back his treasure. And the ayah says the Prophet ﷺ is not that, 'with the unseen'. He received the most precious thing any human being has received: news from beyond the senses, the word of Allah. And he did not clutch it.

A classical scholar quotes an early grammarian's comment and calls it 'a very fine meaning'. The unseen of heaven comes to him, something precious, and he does not withhold it from you. Then he adds his own observation. It is the habit of souls to be stingy with precious things. That is especially so towards people who do not value them and who insult the one who holds them. Yet this messenger gave the most precious thing of all to people who mocked him.

Picture a medical researcher who develops a cheap, simple test for a disease common in poor countries. A company offers her a fortune for the rights. Instead she publishes the method openly so that any clinic anywhere can use it for free. Some colleagues call her naive. Thousands of patients never learn her name.

That is the character this ayah describes, at a far higher level. The Prophet ﷺ taught the Quran in the markets, to the people insulting him, to the tribes who rejected him, to anyone who would listen. He charged nothing and kept nothing back.

Most of us hold something precious: a skill, a piece of knowledge, a way of doing things well. The ayah asks whether we clutch it or share it, and whether we share it even with those who do not deserve it.

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.