The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "There is not a word spoken but there is with Him a watcher prepared."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : And in it, meaning in this Surah, are the admonitions that it is obligatory for us to pay attention to, namely His saying: [Qaf 50:18] What does a person utter? A person utters no word but there is with Him a watcher prepared. If it is good, it is recorded for him; if it is evil, it is recorded against him. And His saying: is an indefinite noun in the context of what?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : In the context of what?[Qaf 50:18] In the context of what, my brothers?
The student: In the context of negation.
The Shaykh : Be brave, why did you stay silent? It is in the context of negation, and an indefinite noun in the context of negation implies generality. Then this indefinite noun also had its generality affirmed by the word which is superfluous in wording; is it superfluous in meaning? Because in the Qur'an, letters are superfluous in terms of wording, but in terms of meaning, they add. So this "min" added emphasis, meaning that whatever word a person utters, there is with Him a watcher prepared, meaning present.
A man entered upon Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) while he was sick and groaning from his illness, and the groaning of a sick person is known to us all. So he said to him: "O Abu 'Abdillah, Tawus, who is one of the great Tabi'un, said: The angel writes even the groaning of the sick person." So Imam Ahmad stopped groaning for fear that it would be recorded against him. This is the groaning of the sick person that sometimes comes without awareness, so how about us?
Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].
ما يلفظ من قول إلا لديه رقيب عتيدof a word
من قولThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : In the context of what?
Man does not utter any word
ما يلفظ من قولThe student: In the context of negation.
The Shaykh : Be brave, why did you stay silent? It is in the context of negation, and an indefinite noun in the context of negation implies generality. Then this indefinite noun also had its generality affirmed by the word
of a word
من قولA man entered upon Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) while he was sick and groaning from his illness, and the groaning of a sick person is known to us all. So he said to him: "O Abu 'Abdillah, Tawus, who is one of the great Tabi'un, said: The angel writes even the groaning of the sick person." So Imam Ahmad stopped groaning for fear that it would be recorded against him. This is the groaning of the sick person that sometimes comes without awareness, so how about us?