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sawāʾun minkum man ʾasarra l-qawla wa-man jahara bihī wa-man huwa mustakhfin bi-l-layli wa-sāribun bi-n-nahāri
It is the same [to Him] whether any of you speaks secretly, or does so loudly, or whether he lurks in the night, or is open to view in daytime.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Ra‘d – Verse 10
10. “It is alike (for Him) whether any of you conceals his speech or speaks openly, and whether he hides himself by night or he who exposes himself during day-time.
This noble verse, which is apparently an explanation of and complementary to the previous verse, is one of the many verses of the Qur’an which refers to Allah’s knowledge as to the small and big, open and hidden acts of man and even man’s thought and intentions. If men believe in such knowledge by Allah, it can be the best factor in one’s modesty and virtue and the greatest means for one’s education for it can encourage the righteous and warn the evildoers.
It is interesting that, in this verse Allah has mentioned the fact of His knowledge unto the secret speech and hidden acts done at night before referring to open words and the manifest activities in the day. The verse says:
“It is alike (for Him) whether any of you conceals his speech or speaks openly, and whether he hides himself by night or he who exposes himself during day-time.”
The Arabic term /s arib/ is derived from /sarib/ which originally means ‘running water’ though it also refers to the one who goes on with a job during the day. At any rate, Allah’s knowledge is identical with respect to all things, unlike our knowledge and our awareness is relative with respect to the things, in some cases it is deeper while in other cases, it is less deep or at zero point in some cases.