Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:78

{ Do they not know }—that is, the hypocrites, or those who made a covenant with Allah the Exalted. It is reported from Ali—may Allah the Exalted ennoble his countenance—that he recited it with the ta (second person), as an address to the believers. It is said: it refers to the former [the hypocrites] via the rhetorical device of iltifat (shift in mode of address); however, His saying, "that Allah knows their secret and their private counsel," rejects this. To consider it another iltifat is a forced interpretation.

The meaning of "secret" (al-sirr)—assuming the pronoun refers to the hypocrites—is what they conceal within themselves of hypocrisy, and "private counsel" (al-najwa) is what they whisper to one another in terms of slanders. According to the other reading [addressing the believers], the first refers to the intention to break promises, and the second refers to their naming of the zakat as jizya.

"Secret" is placed before "private counsel" because knowledge of the former is greater in common observation than knowledge of the latter. Furthermore, placing it first and suspending the knowledge of it [upon Allah] serves to hasten the introduction of dread—or joy, depending on the difference between the two readings. There will come, if Allah the Exalted wills, that which will benefit you here as well.

{ And that Allah is the Knower of the unseen }—so nothing of all things is hidden from Him, Glory be to Him. The interrogative particle (hamza) is either for denial, rebuke, and threat—meaning, do they not know that, such that they have dared to commit such great offenses?—or it is for confirmation and to alert them that Allah the Exalted will call them to account and recompense them for what He knows of their deeds.

The explicit mention of the Majestic Name [Allah] is to instill dread and cultivate awe, or to magnify the gravity of the accounting and recompense. In expressing the knowledge related to their secrets and private counsel—which occur bit by bit—with the verbal form [ya'lamu], which indicates occurrence and renewal, and the knowledge related to the many unseen things with the nominal form [allam], which indicates permanence and intensity, there is a majesty and eloquence that is not hidden.