Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:4

"He said, 'My Lord knows...'"

If you ask: Why was it not said, "He knows the secret," given the preceding statement, "And they concealed their private conversation" (Al-Anbiya: 3)?

I reply: The word "the statement" (al-qawl) is general; it encompasses both the secret and the public. Therefore, knowledge of "the statement" includes knowledge of the secret and more. It is more emphatic in demonstrating awareness of their private conversation than saying "He knows the secret"—just as saying "He knows the secret" is more emphatic than saying "He knows their secret." He then clarified this by stating He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing by His very essence, so how could anything hidden be concealed from Him?

If you ask: Why was this more emphatic phrasing omitted in Surah Al-Furqan, in His saying, "Say, 'It has been revealed by Him who knows the secret in the heavens and the earth'" (Al-Furqan: 6)?

I reply: It is not mandatory to use the most emphatic phrasing in every instance. Rather, one uses the emphatic at times and the more emphatic at others—just as one uses the good in one place and the better in another—to diversify the speech and encompass both the ultimate degree and what is below it. Furthermore, the style of that verse differs from the style of this one; here, He previously mentioned that they "concealed their private conversation." It is as if He intended to say, "My Lord knows what they have concealed," but He used the word "the statement" (al-qawl) in its place for hyperbole. There, however, the intent was to describe His essence by saying it was revealed by "Him who knows the secret in the heavens and the earth," which is like His saying, "The Knower of the unseen; not absent from Him is an atom's weight" (Saba: 3).

It has also been recited as "He said, 'My Lord...'" as a narration of what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to them.

"Nay, they said, 'A mixture of false dreams; nay, he has fabricated it; nay, he is a poet. So let him bring us a sign just as the former ones were sent [with].'"