Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:13
And to Him belongs that which reposes by night and by day, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
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 His word: وَلَهُ مَا سَكَنَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ (13) ("And to Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing") (6:13).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: These who equate the idols with Allah do not believe, so that they would purely devote the oneness (tawḥīd) to Him, reserve obedience to Him alone, and acknowledge the divinity — out of ignorance — "And to Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day," that is to say: to Him belongs the ownership of all things, for there is nothing of Allah's creation but that it dwells in the night and the day. By this it is known that the meaning is as we have described — "and He is the All-Hearing (al-Samīʿ)," that is to say: He hears what these polytheists (mushrikīn) say about Him, in their claim that He has a partner, and what others of His creatures say — "the All-Knowing (al-ʿAlīm)," concerning what they conceal within themselves and what they make manifest with their limbs; none of that remains hidden from Him. He takes account of it against them, in order to give every person in full the reward for what he has earned and the recompense for what he has done.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said in the explanation of His word "dwells," the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
13109 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And to Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day," he says: that which settles in the night and the day.