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The Preserved Tablet/Clear Record

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The Preserved Tablet/Clear Record

اللَّوْح الْمَحْفُوظ

The Preserved Tablet, known in Arabic as *al-Lawh al-Mahfuz*, or sometimes referred to as the Clear Record (*Kitab Mubin*), is a profound concept in Islamic belief that speaks to the absolute and comprehensive knowledge of Allah. It represents a divine, eternal register where everything that has been, is, and will be, is meticulously inscribed. From [what is on the land and in the sea] to [what is in the heaven and earth], every event, every creature's destiny, every thought, and every detail of creation is perfectly recorded within it. This includes [the keys of the unseen], known only to Allah. This magnificent record underscores Allah's flawless memory and wisdom, as [My Lord neither errs nor forgets]. For Muslims, belief in the Preserved Tablet instills a deep sense of trust in divine providence, reminding us that [there is nothing concealed within the heaven and the earth except that it is in a clear Register]. It emphasizes that while we strive and plan, the ultimate decree rests with the All-Knowing Creator, providing comfort and a profound appreciation for Allah's infinite power and foresight.

Quran 9 verses

وَعِندَهُۥ مَفَاتِحُ ٱلْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَآ إِلَّا هُوَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ فِى ظُلُمَٰتِ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِى كِتَٰبٍ مُّبِينٍ

Wa 'indahoo mafaatihul ghaibi laa ya'lamuhaaa illaa Hoo; wa ya'lamu maa fil barri walbahr; wa maa tasqutu minw waraqatin illaa ya'lamuhaa wa laa habbatin fee zulumaatil ardi wa laa ratbinw wa laa yaabisin illaa fee Kitaabim Mubeen

And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.

اور اسی کے پاس غیب کی کنجیاں ہیں جن کو اس کے سوا کوئی نہیں جانتا۔ اور اسے جنگلوں اور دریاؤں کی سب چیزوں کا علم ہے۔ اور کوئی پتہ نہیں جھڑتا مگر وہ اس کو جانتا ہے اور زمین کے اندھیروں میں کوئی دانہ اور کوئی ہری اور سوکھی چیز نہیں ہے مگر کتاب روشن میں (لکھی ہوئی) ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: Commentary How to Stay Safe from Sins - The Master Prescription Of all the religions of the world, belief in Tauhid, monotheism in its pure and applied form, is the distinctive feature of Islam. It is also obvious that Tauhid is not limited to taking the being of Allah Ta` ala as one. Instead, Tauhi...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: And with Him exalted be He are the keys of the Unseen its treasure houses or the paths that lead to knowledge of it; none but He knows them and these are the five things mentioned in His saying Surely God He has knowledge of the Hour and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs. And ...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): The Prophet Understands What He Conveys; Torment is in Allah's Hands Not the Prophet's Allah says, just as We mentioned the clear signs that testify and direct to the path of guidance, all the while chastising useless arguments and defiance, كَذلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآيَـتِ (And thus do We explain the Aya...

وَإِن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا نَحْنُ مُهْلِكُوهَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُوهَا عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا كَانَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ مَسْطُورًا

Wa im min qaryatin illaa Nahnu muhlikoohaa qabla Yawmil Qiyaamati aw mu'az ziboohaa 'azaaban shadeedaa; kaana zaalika fil Kitaabi mastooraa

And there is no city but that We will destroy it before the Day of Resurrection or punish it with a severe punishment. That has ever been in the Register inscribed.

اور (کفر کرنے والوں کی) کوئی بستی نہیں مگر قیامت کے دن سے پہلے ہم اسے ہلاک کردیں گے یا سخت عذاب سے معذب کریں گے۔ یہ کتاب (یعنی تقدیر) میں لکھا جاچکا ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: Commentary The word 'al-wasilah' in: يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ (seek the means of close ness to their Lord - 57) conveys the sense of that which is used as a means of reaching someone. As for reaching Allah, the wasilah or means is to always keep the pleasure of Allah in sight when ...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: There is not a town — its inhabitants are the ones meant — but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection through death or chastise it with terrible chastisement by killing its inhabitants or otherwise. That has been inscribed in the Book the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): The Destruction or Torment of all Disbelieving Towns before the Hour begins Here Allah tells us that He has decreed and it is written in Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet) which is with Him, that there is no town that He will not destroy by wiping out all its people or by punishing them, عَذَا...

قَالَ عِلْمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّى فِى كِتَٰبٍ لَّا يَضِلُّ رَبِّى وَلَا يَنسَى

Qaala 'ilmuhaa 'inda Rabee fee kitaab, laa yadillu Rabbee wa laa yansaa

[Moses] said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in a record. My Lord neither errs nor forgets."

کہا کہ ان کا علم میرے پروردگار کو ہے (جو) کتاب میں (لکھا ہوا ہے) ۔ میرا پروردگار نہ چوکتا ہے نہ بھولتا ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: Commentary Verse 51 tells us that the Pharaoh had asked the question regarding the end of earlier people. If Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had given a straightforward answer that they were misled and will go to Jahannam, then the Pharaoh would have got a chance to scorn that it was not just him whom S...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Said he Moses ‘The knowledge thereof that is the knowledge of their otherworldly status is preserved with my Lord in a Book namely the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz and He shall requite them in accordance with it on the Day of Resurrection. My Lord does not err He is never absent from anything ...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): The Conversation between Musa and Fir`awn Allah, the Exalted, informs about Fir`awn that he said to Musa, in his rejection of the existence of a Supreme Maker and Creator, Who is the God of everything and his own Lord and Owner: فَمَن رَّبُّكُمَا يمُوسَى (Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two) me...

أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ فِى كِتَٰبٍ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

Alam ta'lam annal laaha ya'lamu maa fis samaaa'i wal ard; inna zaalika fee kitaab; inna zaalika 'alal laahi yaseer

Do you not know that Allah knows what is in the heaven and earth? Indeed, that is in a Record. Indeed that, for Allah, is easy.

کیا تم نہیں جانتے کہ جو کچھ آسمان اور زمین میں ہے خدا اس کو جانتا ہے۔ یہ (سب کچھ) کتاب میں (لکھا ہوا) ہے۔ بےشک یہ سب خدا کو آسان ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: Commentary لِّكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنسَكًا (For every ummah (religious community) We have appointed a way of worship - 22:67). This sentence has come earlier in almost identical words in verse number 34 of this Surah, but the word مَنسَكً (mansak) conveys a different meaning in each verse. In th...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Do you not know the interrogative here is meant as an affirmative that God knows all that is in the heaven and the earth? Truly that which has been mentioned is recorded in a Book namely the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz. Indeed that namely the knowledge of what has been mentioned is easy for G...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Allah tells us how perfect is His knowledge of His creation, and that He encompasses all that is in the heavens and on earth Not even the weight of a speck of dust, or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth. He knows all things even before they happen, and He ...

وَمَا مِنْ غَآئِبَةٍ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ إِلَّا فِى كِتَٰبٍ مُّبِينٍ

Wa maa min ghaaa'ibatin fis samaaa'i wal ardi illaa fee kitaabimm mubeen

And there is nothing concealed within the heaven and the earth except that it is in a clear Register.

اور آسمانوں اور زمین میں کوئی پوشیدہ چیز نہیں ہے مگر (وہ) کتاب روشن میں (لکھی ہوئی) ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: بَلِ ادَّارَ‌كَ عِلْمُهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَ‌ةِ ۚ بَلْ هُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهَا ۖ بَلْ هُم مِّنْهَا عَمُونَ ﴿66﴾ Rather, their knowledge failed in the matter of Hereafter. Rather, they are in doubt about it. Rather, they are blind to it. 27:66. There are different recitations for the word اِدّٰرَکَ (iddar...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: And there is not a thing hidden in the heaven and the earth the hā’ tā’ marbūta of ghā’ibatun is hyperbole in other words anything that is completely hidden from people but it is in a manifest Book namely in the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz and in God’s concealed knowledge an example of which ...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هَـذَا الْوَعْدُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ (And they say: "When (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if you are truthful") Allah said, responding to them: قُلْ (Say) `O Muhammad,' عَسَى أَن يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُم بَعْضُ الَّذِى تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ (Perhaps that which you wish to hasten on,...

فِى كِتَٰبٍ مَّكْنُونٍ

Fee kitaabim maknoon

In a Register well-protected;

(جو) کتاب محفوظ میں (لکھا ہوا ہے)

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: The phrase كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ 'a protected book' refers to lawh mahfuz [ i.e. the Preserved Tablet ].
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: in a Book inscribed guarded preserved and this is the Mushaf;
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Allah swears to the Greatness of the Qur'an The usage of La (in Fala) is not an extra character without meaning, as some of the scholars of Tafsir say. Rather it is used at the beginning of an oath when the oath is a negation. This is like when `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her said, "La by Al...

مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِى كِتَٰبٍ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّبْرَأَهَآ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

Maaa asaaba mim musee batin fil ardi wa laa feee anfusikum illaa fee kitaabim min qabli an nabra ahaa; innaa zaalika 'alal laahi yaseer

No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah, is easy -

کوئی مصیبت ملک پر اور خود تم پر نہیں پڑتی مگر پیشتر اس کے کہ ہم اس کو پیدا کریں ایک کتاب میں (لکھی ہوئی) ہے۔ (اور) یہ (کام) خدا کو آسان ہے

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: Factors affecting Mankind are duly measured and destined There are two sets of factors that make man unmindful of Allah and the Hereafter: [ 1] wealth, comfort and other luxuries of this world; one's over-involvement in such luxuries makes him neglectful of Allah. The previous verses have warned aga...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: No affliction befalls in the earth by way of drought for example or in yourselves such as illness or the loss of a child but it is in a Book meaning the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz before We bring it about before We create it — the same is said to be true of God’s graces — that is indeed easy...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Everything that affects Mankind, is duly measured and destined Allah reminds of His measuring and deciding the destiny of all things before He created the creation, مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَلاَ فِى أَنفُسِكُمْ (No calamity occurs on the earth nor in yourselves) meaning, `there is n...

فِى صُحُفٍ مُّكَرَّمَةٍ

Fi suhufim mukar rama,

[It is recorded] in honored sheets,

قابل ادب ورقوں میں (لکھا ہوا)

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: فِي صُحُفٍ مُّكَرَّ‌مَةٍ مَّرْ‌فُوعَةٍ مُّطَهَّرَ‌ةٍ (It is [ recorded ] in those scripts [ of the Preserved Tablet ] that are honoured, [ 13] exalted, purified - 14). The word suhuf refers to lauh mahfuz 'the Preserved Tablet'. Although it is a single thing, but suhuf, the plural form of sahifah is...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: on leaves fī suhufin is the second predicate of innahā ‘truly it’ and what precedes it is a parenthetical statement that are honoured by God
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Which was revealed in Makkah بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ (In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The Prophet being reprimanded because He frowned at a Weak Man More than one of the scholars of Tafsir mentioned that one day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was addressing one o...

فِى لَوْحٍ مَّحْفُوظٍۭ

Fee Lawhim Mahfooz

[Inscribed] in a Preserved Slate.

لوح محفوظ میں (لکھا ہوا)

Commentary

Ma'arif-ul-Quran: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا (Surely, those who persecuted the believing men and the believing women, then did not repent,...85:10) This verse describes the torment of the wrong-doers who burned the Muslims in the fire pit only on account of their fai...
Tafsir al-Jalalayn: in a tablet suspended above the seventh heaven preserved read mahfūzin from all devils and from having any of its contents altered; it is a high as the distance between the earth and the heaven and as wide as the distance between the east and the west made of white pearls — as stated by Ibn ‘Abbās m...
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): The Reward of the Righteous, and the Harsh Seizing of the Disbelieving Enemies of Allah Allah informs about His believing servants that لَهُمْ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَـرُ (for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow.) This is the opposite of what he has prepared for His enemies o...

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