سُوْرَةُ الْاَعْلٰي
Surah Al-A'laa (87) — Ayah 7
إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ يَعْلَمُ ٱلْجَهْرَ وَمَا يَخْفَىٰ ﴿7﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Except what Allâh may will. He knows what is apparent and what is hidden.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
إِلَّا
illā
Except
مَا
mā
what
شَآءَ
shāa
wills
ٱللَّهُ ۚ
l-lahu
Allah
إِنَّهُۥ
innahu
Indeed, He
يَعْلَمُ
yaʿlamu
knows
ٱلْجَهْرَ
l-jahra
the manifest
وَمَا
wamā
and what
يَخْفَىٰ
yakhfā
is hidden
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
Except what Allah wills [6]. He knows what is apparent and what is hidden.
[6] When the process of revelation began, you ﷺ would pay extra attention to memorizing the words of revelation with effort, and you would also try to utter those words with your tongue, which would distract your attention. Allah Almighty took responsibility for this matter and said that you should only listen attentively. Later, it is Our task to have the exact words of revelation recited from your tongue. Also, these words of revelation will remain preserved in your ﷺ heart. You will not forget them. However, if Allah wills, you may forget. Now, there are two forms of this forgetting. One instance is that once you were leading the morning prayer and during the recitation, you omitted a verse. After the prayer, Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b asked: Has this verse been abrogated? You ﷺ replied: No, I forgot. [ابو داؤد، کتاب الصلوٰۃ۔ باب فی فتح علی الامام فی الصلوٰۃ]
And the second form is the one mentioned in this hadith as well, that is, a verse itself is abrogated. Here, some people object that what is the meaning of abrogating and causing to be forgotten the verses that Allah has already revealed? The answer to this is that some verses and rulings in the Quran were revealed for a specific period. Later, it was no longer necessary to keep them. For example, according to the recitation of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas ؓ, after "fama istamta'tum bihi minhunna," the words "ila ajalin musamman" were also present. Then, when mut'ah was completely forbidden, these words in this recitation were also abrogated. And there are countless verses in the Quran regarding this type of abrogation. For details, see: Surah Al-Baqarah verse 106, Surah Ar-Ra'd verses 39-40, Surah An-Nahl verse 101. The point is that encompassing the wisdoms of Allah Almighty is His own attribute. If He deems it appropriate that a certain verse is no longer needed from the revealed revelation, He can abrogate it, and the easiest form of this abrogation was that when you would review the Quran with Jibreel, that verse or some of its words you would be made to forget.
[6] When the process of revelation began, you ﷺ would pay extra attention to memorizing the words of revelation with effort, and you would also try to utter those words with your tongue, which would distract your attention. Allah Almighty took responsibility for this matter and said that you should only listen attentively. Later, it is Our task to have the exact words of revelation recited from your tongue. Also, these words of revelation will remain preserved in your ﷺ heart. You will not forget them. However, if Allah wills, you may forget. Now, there are two forms of this forgetting. One instance is that once you were leading the morning prayer and during the recitation, you omitted a verse. After the prayer, Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b asked: Has this verse been abrogated? You ﷺ replied: No, I forgot. [ابو داؤد، کتاب الصلوٰۃ۔ باب فی فتح علی الامام فی الصلوٰۃ]
And the second form is the one mentioned in this hadith as well, that is, a verse itself is abrogated. Here, some people object that what is the meaning of abrogating and causing to be forgotten the verses that Allah has already revealed? The answer to this is that some verses and rulings in the Quran were revealed for a specific period. Later, it was no longer necessary to keep them. For example, according to the recitation of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas ؓ, after "fama istamta'tum bihi minhunna," the words "ila ajalin musamman" were also present. Then, when mut'ah was completely forbidden, these words in this recitation were also abrogated. And there are countless verses in the Quran regarding this type of abrogation. For details, see: Surah Al-Baqarah verse 106, Surah Ar-Ra'd verses 39-40, Surah An-Nahl verse 101. The point is that encompassing the wisdoms of Allah Almighty is His own attribute. If He deems it appropriate that a certain verse is no longer needed from the revealed revelation, He can abrogate it, and the easiest form of this abrogation was that when you would review the Quran with Jibreel, that verse or some of its words you would be made to forget.
