Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Verse Text (Qur’an 27:75): “Nothing is hidden in the heavens and the earth without being [written] in a clear Record.” – Translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.

Classical Exegesis: God’s All-Encompassing Record

Classical Muslim scholars unanimously understood the “clear Record” (in Arabic, kitāb mubīn) as referring to the divine register that contains everything – often identified as the Lawḥ Maḥfūẓ, or Preserved Tablet. In other words, all happenings in the universe, seen and unseen, are inscribed in this cosmic Book. For example, the early authority Ibn ‘Abbās explained that “there is nothing in the heaven or earth but it is in a Clear Book,” linking this verse to the broader Quranic theme that God knows all things and has recorded them surahquran.com. Likewise, Ibn Kathīr and other classical commentators note that even the most hidden secrets or minute occurrences are not truly hidden from God – they exist within His knowledge and are written in this Record.

Importantly, the “clear Record” here is not the Qur’an itself but the comprehensive heavenly Book of God’s knowledge surahquran.com. Many Quranic verses reinforce this idea. Surah 6:59 declares that not even a leaf falls without God’s awareness, and “not a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry, but it is in a clear Record.” Another verse states: “Not an atom’s weight escapes Him, be it in the heavens or the earth, nor anything smaller than that or greater, but it is all in a clear Record.” quran-islam.org. Classical exegetes like al-Ṭabarī emphasized that God has already enumerated and computed every thing in creation. Al-Ṭabarī quotes earlier scholars saying: “Everything that was or is to be, We recorded/calculated it, and established it in the Mother Book… ‘clear’ because it reveals the reality of all that is settled in it.” medium.com. Thus, in traditional Islamic theology, Qur’an 27:75 is a powerful affirmation of God’s omniscience – His all-encompassing knowledge of every detail of creation, preserved in an unfailing heavenly record.

Divine Omniscience and Hidden Knowledge

The verse under study highlights divine omniscience: God’s knowledge is absolute and perfect, extending to “whatever you conceal in your hearts and whatever you reveal” (as 27:74 mentions just before this verse) and indeed to “every secret in the heavens or the earth.” The phrase “nothing is hidden” indicates that even things unknown to any creature are fully known to the Creator. Classical scholars often pointed out that this refutes the idea held by some philosophers that God only knows generalities and not minute particulars dar-alifta.org. On the contrary, Islam insists that no detail of the cosmos lies outside God’s knowledge. As one modern commentary eloquently puts it: “Let imagination travel anywhere in the universe, thinking of any hidden thing – a secret, an object, a piece of information, a force or power: it is all recorded and included in God’s knowledge. Nothing is lost or overlooked.” quran-wiki.com In other words, from the largest galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle, nothing escapes His awareness.

This theological point was so important that the Qur’an repeats it in various forms. Surah 22:70, for instance, asks rhetorically: “Do you not know that God knows all that is in the heaven and earth? Indeed it is all in a Book. That is certainly easy for God.” surahquran.com. The “Book” mentioned is again the cosmic registry of all information. Such verses drove home the point that the world is not chaotic or unknown; rather, every aspect of it exists under God’s gaze and is recorded by Him. Early Muslim theologians (mutakallimūn) took verses like 27:75 as proof against any limitation on God’s knowledge. They argued that God knows everything – past, present, future – including things human beings consider trivial or “hidden.” Nothing can hide in the vast heavens or on the earth’s depths such that God would not be aware of it quran-wiki.com.

This all-encompassing knowledge also includes what Islamic tradition calls the “‘ālam al-ghayb” (realm of the unseen). Humans are bounded in knowledge – there are countless realities we cannot see or secrets we never discover. But the verse assures that to God, none of these are truly hidden. In Islamic spirituality, this realization inspires both awe and humility: God knows the whisper of a thought, the shadow in the night, the farthest star, and the deepest secret. The metaphysics of hidden knowledge in Islam is such that what is hidden to us is still entirely within God’s “clear Record.” As the Qur’an says elsewhere, “He knows the secret and what is even more hidden” surahquran.com – an affirmation that God’s knowledge penetrates layers of concealment beyond what we can imagine.

Destiny and Free Will: “Written” in a Clear Record

A natural question arises: If everything is “written” in this Clear Record, what does that mean for free will and destiny? Does it imply that all events are pre-scripted and determined (determinism), or can human free will still have meaning? Islamic theology has a nuanced view that tries to balance divine predestination (qadar) with human responsibility. The Qur’an indeed says God has “created all things with qadar” – with a precise measure and foreordainment medium.com. A famous narration from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ illustrates this: “The first thing God created was the Pen. He said to it, ‘Write.’ The Pen asked, ‘My Lord, what shall I write?’ God said: ‘Write the decree (al-Qadar) of everything that will occur until the Hour (the end of time).’” medium.com. This symbolizes that all history, all events, have been encompassed in God’s knowledge and plan from the very beginning.

However, crucially, Muslim scholars asserted that God’s foreknowledge and recording of events do not force our choices. They distinguished between knowing something in advance and causing that thing to happen. For example, a teacher might “predict” how a well-known student will behave in a situation; the knowledge doesn’t make the student do it. In a far more perfect way, God’s knowledge infallibly encompasses future choices without negating the freedom of those choices. Al-Rāzī, a classical theologian, notes that God’s knowledge is not like human knowledge – it’s absolute and outside of time, so God “sees” past, present, and future all at once without error. But from the human perspective, we experience making real choices. Those choices matter and we are accountable for them, even though God eternally knew what we would choose.

Islamic thought developed concepts like “kasb” (acquisition) to describe this interplay: humans acquire actions by their will, even though those actions occur within the framework of God’s will and knowledge. In practice, Muslims are told to live as if everything depends on their effort, while trusting that ultimately everything is in God’s hands. The clear Record is thus not a fatalistic script intended to undermine human moral agency. Rather, it is a reassurance that God is never surprised; our future is God’s “history.” We still must choose good over evil – and because “nothing is hidden” from God, we believe we will answer to every choice we made. The Qur’an often couples God’s comprehensive knowledge with reminders of the Judgment, implying that because God knows every deed and even intention (hidden or open), He will bring us to account with perfect justice surahquran.com. In short, Qur’an 27:75 evokes predestination (all is recorded) in harmony with accountability (our deeds are recorded for judgment). This balance encourages believers to trust God’s plan without ever absolving themselves of personal responsibility.

Scientific Resonances: Cosmology and Information

Interestingly, modern science – though operating in a different realm than scripture – has uncovered concepts that resonate with the Quranic idea of a “clear Record” containing all information. The verse speaks of the heavens and the earth – essentially the entire universe – and asserts that nothing within this vastness is unaccounted for. Today’s cosmology shows us a universe of staggering scale and complexity, yet governed by consistent laws of physics. In a sense, nature itself “records” information: every effect has a cause, and every particle carries quantum state data. Physicists even speak of conservation of information: the idea that information about a system’s state cannot be lost, only transformed. In quantum mechanics, for example, any evolution of an isolated system is reversible – “all information about a system’s initial state is preserved, even if it changes form,” as one explanation of this principle notes instagram.com. This is a striking parallel to the Quranic assertion that nothing truly disappears without a trace; it is as if the universe itself is an information-preserving system, echoing the role of the “clear Record” in which “nothing is lost or overlooked” quran-wiki.com.

In fact, some scientists have gone so far as to describe the universe in terms of information theory and computation. The renowned physicist John Archibald Wheeler coined the phrase “it from bit”, meaning that every physical “thing” (it) at bottom originates from bits of information. “Every item of the physical world has at bottom an immaterial source and explanation… all things physical are information-theoretic in origin,” wrote Wheeler azquotes.com. In other words, reality can be viewed as information. The Qur’an’s depiction of a Clear Record that underlies reality aligns with this perspective in a thought-provoking way. It suggests that the ultimate fabric of reality is information – and the Qur’an locates that information with an Omniscient Mind (God). Modern theories don’t speak of God, but they do speak of a kind of cosmic data. For instance:

• Conservation of information in physics: In theoretical physics, laws like quantum unitary evolution and discussions around black holes imply that information is never truly destroyed. Even if matter falls into a black hole, the information about its state might be encoded on the event horizon (as per the holographic principle) rather than lost. This scientific conjecture – that no information vanishes from the universe – resonates with the Quranic notion that nothing in existence is unaccounted for. It is as if the cosmos itself acts like a giant ledger where energy and information are conserved and traceable (at least in principle) instagram.com.
• Universe as computation: Some scientists describe the universe as a kind of giant quantum computer processing bits. As Seth Lloyd put it, “the universe that evolves by processing information and the universe that evolves by the laws of physics are one and the same” medium.com. The Quranic idea of everything being “written” could be analogized to the code of the cosmos. In Islamic terms, “written in a clear Record” means the universe follows a coherent divine code or plan. Modern scientists like Lloyd, or theories like digital physics, similarly suggest that physical reality might fundamentally be information being processed. This offers a fascinating point of dialogue: the Qur’an sacralizes information (“Word,” “Knowledge,” “Record”) as the basis of reality, and science is increasingly viewing information as a fundamental physical entity.
• The holographic and participatory universe: Contemporary cosmology has even proposed that the universe might be like a hologram, with information about 3D space encoded on a 2D boundary (this again ties to how information is never lost, just stored differently). Such cutting-edge theories underscore that what we perceive (the observable phenomena) may be underlain by extensive unseen information structures. The Qur’an’s emphasis that “only God knows the unseen (al-ghayb) of the heavens and earth, and it is all in a Record” fits a view of reality where the deeper information layer is mostly hidden from us but nonetheless real and important. In a way, scientists acknowledging an information foundation of the universe are catching a glimpse of what the Qur’an calls the Kitāb Mubīn, the clear record that underlies and makes sense of the cosmos.

Of course, the Qur’an is not a science textbook, and its purpose is spiritual guidance, not scientific theory. Yet these resonances can enrich a believer’s reflection. They suggest that faith in an All-Knowing God and scientific curiosity about the world are not at odds but in harmony – both point to an intelligible universe where information (or knowledge) is fundamental. As al-Ṭabarī noted over a thousand years ago, God has computed everything and revealed “the reality of all that is settled” in the fabric of creation medium.com. Centuries later, we find scientists describing the universe in terms of computations and bits, as if reading echoes of that idea in nature itself. Such parallels inspire a sense of wonder: the more we learn about the heavens and the earth, the more we appreciate what it means that nothing is truly hidden from God.

Conclusion: Awe, Accountability, and a Meaningful Cosmos

Qur’an 27:75 invites us into a worldview of profound awe, moral accountability, and cosmic meaning. Awe – because contemplating an all-knowing God who has “every secret in a clear Record” humbles the human mind. When we gaze up at the starry sky or into the secrets of atoms, we feel only a fraction of that awe: how much greater to imagine the One who knows every quasar and every quark, every thought in every mind, every moment of the past and every possibility of the future. As one commentator said, “God’s perfect knowledge overlooks nothing anywhere in the universe” quran-wiki.com. This sense of the divine omniscience can foster a deep spiritual reverence – an awareness that we live every second in the sight of an all-aware, loving Creator.

With awe comes accountability. “Nothing is hidden…” means we cannot hide our deeds or ourselves from God. Our lives are, in essence, being recorded. Rather than inducing despair, this is meant to encourage honesty and goodness. A believer knows that their smallest act of kindness or cruelty is seen and noted: “Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it” (Qur’an 99:7-8). In a practical sense, Qur’an 27:75 motivates an attitude of sincerity and vigilance. It nurtures the virtue of iḥsān, often defined as “worshiping God as though you see Him, knowing that even if you do not see Him, He sees you.” If all is written in a clear Record, then our secrets and intentions matter – they are part of the fabric of reality and will be brought to light. This gives a profound moral significance to every moment of our lives.

Finally, the verse imparts a vision of a meaningful cosmos. In a secular view, the immense universe can seem cold or indifferent to human existence. But the Qur’anic worldview, as exemplified by this verse, paints a different picture: the universe is suffused with meaning and order, upheld by God’s knowledge. Nothing “falls through the cracks” of reality; even if the world seems random or unjust at times, ultimately everything is known and accounted for. This belief can comfort the soul. It suggests that our experiences – even our suffering or lost moments – are not pointless, for they are witnessed by God and woven into a larger story that we may yet come to understand. We live in a cosmos where information is never lost and goodness is never forgotten. In Islamic understanding, this lends hope that justice will be done (since all deeds are recorded) and that seeking knowledge is holy (since all truth reflects God’s knowledge).

In summary, “Nothing is hidden… except in a clear Record” (27:75) is a concise yet profoundly rich statement. Theologically, it affirms God’s total knowledge and the inscription of destiny. Philosophically, it prompts reflection on how freedom and fate intersect under an omniscient gaze, and on the very nature of reality as fundamentally knowable. Scientifically, it resonates in an age that increasingly views information as the foundation of existence. And spiritually, it shapes a worldview of wonder and responsibility. A believer who absorbs this verse walks through life with an acute sense that the universe is alive with God’s presence and knowledge. This engenders a trusting surrender – knowing that one’s life is understood completely by one’s Lord – and a passionate engagement – striving to live rightly, since every action echoes in eternity. In a world often beset by uncertainty and secrecy, Qur’an 27:75 shines like a beacon of light, reminding us that we inhabit a meaningful cosmos in which ultimate knowledge and justice prevail. Everything is noted, nothing is in vain. Such a belief roots the soul in both awe and accountability, and it invites us to inhabit the cosmos not as meaningless specks in an oblivious void, but as dignified participants in a divinely ordered, information-rich creation whose every aspect reflects the wisdom of its Author quran-wiki.com.

Thus, Qur’an 27:75 shapes a worldview in which faith and reason unite – a worldview of awe before the All-Knowing, a commitment to moral accountability, and a serene confidence that, in the fullest sense, nothing in our universe is ever truly hidden or lost.

Sources Cited:

• The Holy Qur’an, 27:75 (with translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) and other related verses quran-islam.org surahquran.com.
• Tafsīr works: Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm surahquran.com; al-Ṭabarī, Jāmi‘ al-Bayān (referenced in Medium article) medium.com; al-Jalālayn surahquran.com; Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (The Great Exegesis).
• Modern commentary: Sayyid Quṭb, Fī Ẓilāl al-Qur’ān (In the Shade of the Qur’an) quran-wiki.com; Syed Maududi, Tafhim al-Qur’an surahquran.com.
• Ḥadīth: Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) on the Pen writing all things medium.com.
• Philosophical and scientific references: Discussion on God’s knowledge of particulars vs universals dar-alifta.org; Seth Lloyd’s computational universe theory medium.com; John Wheeler’s “it from bit” concept azquotes.com; Principle of information conservation in quantum physics instagram.com; Holographic principle implications (general discussion) en.wikipedia.org.