Al-Adiyat 100:11 - Linguistic Miracle

Truly, their Master, of them, on that day, has deep and intimate knowledge

The word khabīr is translated as “deep and intimate knowledge.” It comes from the root khāʾ bāʾ rāʾ which was used for a ground so soft that feet would sink in it, as well as for a round depression in which water gathered. The core meaning is to soften or weaken something to the extent that its very depth can be reached.¹⁰⁷ This root was often used in the meaning of knowledge but this is not just any knowledge. This is knowledge with which one knows the true essence and reality of something - as if penetrating it to its very core.

The whole theme of the Surah involved penetration. The horses penetrated the enemy and reached their center. Allah will topple our graves and penetrate our chests. In this verse, the knowledge of Allah penetrates our hearts. First Allah penetrates our chests to take out our hearts and now, after having gathered our hearts, he penetrates them too with his knowledge and reaches the very depth of our being. Nothing is as intimate to a person than his feelings. Nobody truly knows the feelings of another person, only he himself knows. Allah will conquer us such that our most intimate secrets and feelings are laid bare before him.

One of the meanings of verse 8 is that man displays strength only when he is pursuing weakness and not otherwise. An army needs to be strong to defend against a raid. A weak army will be defeated. The raid of Allah is coming and man needs to be strong to be able to defend himself against it. If he fulfills the rights of Allah truly, he will become strong and when his heart is examined by Allah in this state, he will be saved. Man displays weakness when striving for the strength that will make him pass this test of Allah, and displays strength when striving for things that make him weak in the face of this raid and examination by Allah.

When an army is conquered by its enemy, it is held hostage by them and is at their mercy and they can do whatever they want with them. Punish them, torture them, execute them or let them go. On the last day, Allah will carry out a raid and conquer us. We will be held hostage before Him with our hearts, feelings and intimate secrets laid out before Him. If people want Allah to show them mercy when they are in this state, they must stop being a kanūd to Allah and stop holding back from Him His rights. Otherwise, they will be subject to His punishment.

All of this is just a detailed and graphic description of a raid. It would be enough for Allah to just have said that on the last day He will examine your hearts to their depths but instead, He mentions every little detail. First I will topple your graves. Then I will penetrate your chests and take out your hearts. Then I will penetrate your hearts and take out your secrets. Just saying that Allah will take out the secrets of hearts would have conveyed the intended meaning but this style of speech is to warn. It is similar to how we speak when giving warnings to someone. First I will do this, then this and then that to you etc. The style of speech employed in this Surah is itself a warning.

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The Surah before it is al - Zilzāl that mentions the earthquake of judgment day which makes the earth take out the things it contains. This Surah specifies exactly what the earth takes out. Secondly, it also mentions the Earth as actually telling and reporting; and this surah mentions the hearts as being exposed and their contents taken out and their secrets being reported openly.

The surah next to it is al - Qāriʿah which mentions people and mountains becoming weightless on judgment day. What is meant by people are deeds or actions done for the sake of people; to appease them, to be accepted by them, to be looked up to by them etc; and the mountains symbolize the strongest desires pertaining to this world of an individual which differ from person to person. The name of the surah - al - Qāriʿah- means something that exposes another thing. It will expose people and mountains as worthless and weightless and as we saw in this surah, the hearts also got exposed and penetrated. The true reality and character of a person will get exposed. How many feelings do people hide inside their breasts that they would rather die than have them exposed publicly?

¹⁰⁷ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p. 523