Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:10
It is the same [to Him] concerning you whether one conceals [his] speech or one publicizes it and whether one is hidden by night or conspicuous [among others] by day.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the meaning of the saying of the Exalted: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ (Alike for Him among you are: he who conceals his speech and he who utters it aloud, and he who hides himself in the night and he who goes about openly by day) (13:10).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says: Alike before Allah, O people, are the one who keeps his speech hidden, and the one who utters it aloud, and the one who hides himself in the night in its darkness through disobedience to Allah — وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ (and he who goes about openly by day) — that is to say: the one who is visible by day in the daylight. Nothing of all this is hidden from Him. What His creation does in secret and what they do openly are alike to Him, for nothing remains secret or hidden from Him.
One says: "saraba yasrubu surūban" when someone appears or becomes visible, as Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm said: "How did you travel by night, while you were not in the habit of travelling openly — and dreams bring the far near." That is to say: how did you travel by night along this far road, while you were not accustomed to going out and were not visible?
Some said: it means "the one who goes his own way" — that is to say: in his own direction and dwelling place.
The linguists differed concerning the word "al-sarb." Some said: "he is safe in his sarb" — with fatḥa on the sīn. And others said: "he is safe in his sirb" — with kasra on the sīn.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes also said.
Mention is made of those who said this:
20202 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — he said: "This is the one who is dubious in intent and hides himself by night. When he goes out by day, he shows the people that he is free of sin."
20203 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — "visible (by day)."
20204 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from ʿAwf, from Abū Rajāʾ, concerning his saying: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — he said: "Allah knows them best — alike before Him are: he who keeps his speech hidden and he who utters it aloud, and he who hides himself in the night and he who goes about openly by day."
20205 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, he said: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, from ʿAwf, from Abū Rajāʾ: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — he said: "The one who hides himself in his house, وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — who is on his way by day. His knowledge concerning them is one (i.e. alike)."
20206 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ — "The hidden and the manifest are alike to Him." وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — "As for the mustakhfī (the one who hides himself): that is the one who is in his house. As for the sārib (the visible one): that is the one who goes out by day, wherever he may be. The one who keeps himself hidden in his concealment and the one who goes out — both are alike to Him."
20207 — [...] he said: al-Ḥammānī related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, from Khuṣayf, concerning his saying: مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ — he said: "the one who follows his own head in disobedience." وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — he said: "visible by day."
20208 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, his saying: سَوَاءٌ مِنكُم مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ — "All this is alike to Him, the Blessed and Exalted — the hidden is manifest to Him." His saying: وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — that is to say: in the darkness of the night; and "sārib": that is to say: visible by day.
20209 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, from Khuṣayf, from Mujāhid and ʿIkrima: وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ — he said: "visible by day."
The word "man" in his saying مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِاللَّيْلِ — the first of these is in the nominative because of "sawāʾ" (alike). The second is joined to it by conjunction, and the third is joined to the second.
