Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:59
And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.
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.
Explanation of the words of the Exalted: En bij Hem zijn de sleutels van het onzichtbare, niemand kent ze behalve Hij, en Hij weet wat er op het land en in de zee is (And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He, and He knows what is on the land and in the sea).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He says: with Allah are the keys of the unseen (al-ghayb).
And "al-mafātiḥ" is the plural of "miftaḥ"; one says both "miftaḥ" and "miftāḥ". Whoever says "miftaḥ" forms the plural "mafātiḥ", and whoever says "miftāḥ" forms the plural "mafātīḥ".
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By His words "and with Him are the keys of the unseen" He means: the treasuries of the unseen, as in the following:
13305 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning "and with Him are the keys of the unseen", he said, he means: the treasuries of the unseen.
13306 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salama, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, who said: To your Prophet ﷺ everything was given except the keys of the unseen.
13307 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and with Him are the keys of the unseen", he said: they are five: Voorwaar, Allah, bij Hem is de kennis van het Uur, en Hij zendt de regen neer up to Voorwaar, Allah is Alwetend, Welingelicht [Surah Luqmān: 34].
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the verse is thus: and Allah knows best the wrongdoers among His creatures, and what they deserve, and what He will do with them, for with Him is the knowledge of what remains hidden from His creatures, so that they have not beheld it and have not grasped it, and they will never know it and never comprehend it = "and He knows what is on the land and in the sea", He says: and with Him is also the knowledge of what is not hidden from you, for what is on the land and in the sea and is visible to the eye, that the servants know. The meaning of the verse is thus as if it were: and with Allah is the knowledge of what is hidden from you, O people, of that which you do not know and will never know, that of which He has reserved the knowledge for Himself; and along with that He also knows all that you all know, nothing is hidden from Him, for there is nothing except that which is hidden from people, or that which is not hidden from them. Thus Allah, exalted is His mention, has informed that with Him is the knowledge of everything that has been and will be, and of what is to come but has not yet been; and that is the unseen (al-ghayb).
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Explanation of the words of the Exalted: En er valt geen blad of Hij kent het, en er is geen graankorrel in de duisternissen van de aarde, en niets vochtigs en niets droogs, of het staat in een duidelijk boek (59) (And not a leaf falls but He knows it, and there is no grain in the darkness of the earth, and nothing moist and nothing dry, but it is recorded in a clear book).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, mentioned is His name, says: and not a leaf falls in the wildernesses and the steppes, nor in the cities and villages, but Allah knows it = "and there is no grain in the darknesses of the earth, and nothing moist and nothing dry, but it is in a clear book", He says: and there is also nothing, of what exists or of what will exist but does not yet exist, but it is recorded in the Well-Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ), written down therein, with its number and its extent recorded, and the moment at which it will exist, and the state in which it will perish.
And by His word "clear" (mubīn) He means that it demonstrates the correctness of what is in it, through the existence of what is recorded in it, in accordance with the manner in which it is recorded.
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Should someone say: and what is the reason for recording in the Well-Preserved Tablet and the clear book what is not hidden from Him, while He knows all this and need not fear forgetting it?
Then he is answered: Allah, exalted is His mention, does what He wills. It is possible that this was from Him a trial for His guardians (angels), and a testing of those charged with recording their deeds; for they are, according to what has been related, charged with recording the deeds of the servants, and then comparing them with what Allah has recorded thereof in the Well-Preserved Tablet, until He records therein each day what He records. And it has been said that this is the meaning of His word: Voorwaar, Wij lieten optekenen wat jullie deden [Surah al-Jāthiya: 29]. And it is possible that it is for another reason, which He knows better: whether as a proof by which He argues against some of His angels, or against the children of Adam, or something else. And it has been narrated:
13308 - Ziyād ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḥassānī Abū al-Khaṭṭāb related to me, saying: Mālik ibn Suʿayr related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith, who said: There is on the earth no tree, nor even so much as the planting-place of a needle, but over it is appointed an angel charged with it; he brings to Allah knowledge of it: its dryness when it withers, and its moistness when it is moist.
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