6. [al-Anam, Cattle, Mecca 55]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لاَ يَعْلَمُهَا إِلاَّ هُوَ...

6: 59. With Him are the keys of the Unseen, the treasures that none knoweth but He.

C879. Mafatih: Plural of either miflah, a key, or maftah, a treasure.

Both meanings are implied, and I have accordingly put both in my translation.

...وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ...

He knoweth whatever there is on the earth and in the sea.

...وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا وَلاَ حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الأَرْضِ...

Not a leaf doth fall but with His knowledge:

there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth,

...وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿٥٩﴾

nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered),

but is (inscribed) in a Record Clear (to those who can read).

C880. This is the mystic Record, the archetypal Plan, the Eternal Law, according to which everything seen and unseen is ordered and regulated.

The simplest things in Nature are subject to His Law. The fresh and the withered, the living and the lifeless-nothing is outside the Plan of His Creation. (R).

Other versions:

6: 59

Asad ……And He knows all that is on land an in sea; and not a leaf falls but He knows it; and neither is there a grain in the earth’s deep darkness, nor anything living or dead [note 49], but is recorded in [His] clear decree.

Pickthall And with Him are the keys of the invisible. None but He knows them. And He knows what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but (it is noted) in a clear record.

Transliteration Wa 'indahu_ mafa_tihul gaibi la_ ya'lamuha_ illa_ huw(a), wa ya'lamu fir barri wal bahr(i), wa ma_ tasqutu miw waraqatin illa_ ya'lamuha_ wa la_ habbatin fi zuluma_til ardi wa la_ ratbiw wa la_ ya_bisin illa_ fi kita_bim mubin(in).

[[ Asad’s note 49 – Lit., “fresh or dry”. ]]

[[ Ali’s notes - 879 Mafatih: Plural of either miftah= a key, or maftah= a treasure. Both meanings are implied, and I have accordingly put both in my translation. (6.59)

880 This is the mystic Record, the archetypal Plan, the Eternal Law, according to which everything seen and unseen is ordered and regulated. There is much mystic doctrine here, explained by beautiful metaphors and illustrations. The simplest things in Nature are subject to His Law. The fresh and the withered, the living and the lifeless-nothing is outside the Plan of His Creation. (6.59)

881 As the rest of His Creation is subject to His Law and Plan, so is man's life in every particular and at every moment, awake or asleep. The mystery of Sleep-" the twin brother of death" - is called the taking of our soul by Him, with the record of all we have done in our waking moments, and this record sometimes appears to us in confused glimpses in dreams. By day we awaken again to our activities, and so it goes on until we fufil the term of our life appointed for this earth. Then comes the other Sleep (death), with the longer record of our Day (Life); and then, in the end comes the Resurrection and Judgment, at which we see everything clearly and not as in dreams, for that is the final Reality. (6.60) ]]