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With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
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 Surah Qaf 50:16-18 [2/3]
  
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Verse Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
وَلَقَدْAnd certainly
خَلَقْنَاWe created
ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَman
وَنَعْلَمُand We know
مَاwhat
تُوَسْوِسُwhispers
بِهِۦto him
نَفْسُهُۥ‌ۖhis soul,
وَنَحْنُand We
أَقْرَبُ(are) nearer
إِلَيْهِto him
مِنْthan
حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ(his) jugular vein.
﴿١٦﴾
إِذْWhen
يَتَلَقَّىreceive
ٱلْمُتَلَقِّيَانِthe two receivers
عَنِon
ٱلْيَمِينِthe right
وَعَنِand on
ٱلشِّمَالِthe left
قَعِيدٌseated.
﴿١٧﴾
مَّاNot
يَلْفِظُhe utters
مِنany
قَوْلٍword
إِلَّاbut
لَدَيْهِwith him
رَقِيبٌ(is) an observer
عَتِيدٌready.
﴿١٨﴾


وَلَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا الۡاِنۡسَانَ وَنَعۡلَمُ مَا تُوَسۡوِسُ بِهٖ نَفۡسُهٗ ۖۚ وَنَحۡنُ اَقۡرَبُ اِلَيۡهِ مِنۡ حَبۡلِ الۡوَرِيۡدِ‏  اِذۡ يَتَلَقَّى الۡمُتَلَقِّيٰنِ عَنِ الۡيَمِيۡنِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ قَعِيۡدٌ‏   مَا يَلۡفِظُ مِنۡ قَوۡلٍ اِلَّا لَدَيۡهِ رَقِيۡبٌ عَتِيۡدٌ‏ 

Translation
(50:16) Surely We19 have created man, and We know the promptings of his heart, and We are nearer to him than even his jugular vein.20 (50:17) Moreover, there are two scribes, one each sitting on the right and the left, recording everything. (50:18) He utters not a word, but there is a vigilant watcher at hand.21

Commentary

19. After presenting the arguments for the Hereafter, it is being stated: Whether you believe in the Hereafter, or deny it, it has to come in any case, and it is such a reality which will certainly come about in spite of your denial. If you heed the warning given by the Prophets in advance and prepare for it, you will be doing good to yourselves. If you do not believe in it, you will be inviting your own doom. Your denial will not prevent the Hereafter from taking place and God's law of justice will not became suspended.

20. That is, Our power and Our knowledge has so encompassed man from within and without that Our power and knowledge is closer to him than his own jugular-vein. We do not have to travel from a distance to hear what he says, but We directly know every thought that arises in his heart. Likewise, when We shall want to seize him, We will not have to seize him after covering a distance, for wherever he is, he is in Our grasp; and whenever We will, We will seize him.

21. That is, on the one hand, We directly know man’s actions and movements, even his hidden thoughts; on the other hand, every man has two angels appointed over him, who are recording whatever he does and says; none of his actions or words is left unrecorded. This means that when man is produced in the court of Allah, Allah at that time Himself will also be knowing what each person has done in the world. Besides, there will also be two witnesses who will produce documentary evidence of the person’s actions and deeds. As to what will be the nature of this documentary evidence, it is difficult for us to have a precise concept of it. But from the facts that we are witnessing today, it seems certain that the voices and pictures and marks of man’s actions and movements are being preserved and imprinted on every particle of the environment in which he lives and works, and each one of these can be reproduced in exactly the same form and voice so as to leave no difference whatsoever between the original and its copy. Man is doing this on a very limited scale with the help of his inventions, but the angels of God neither stand in need of these machines nor are bound by any limitation. Man’s own body and everything around it is their tape and their film upon which they can record every voice and every image along with its minutest and most delicate detail precisely and exactly, and can make man hear, on the Day of Resurrection, with his own ears, in his own voice, those very things which he talked in the world, and can make him see, with his own eyes, the pictures of all his misdeeds, whose genuineness he would not possibly be able to deny.

Here, one should also understand that in the court of the Hereafter, Allah will not punish anybody only on the basis of His own knowledge, but will punish him after fulfilling all the requirements of justice. That is why an exhaustive record is being prepared of every person’s words and deeds in the world so that a complete proof with undeniable evidence becomes available of everyone’s life work and activity.