Allah SWT is the most knowledgeable and wise, this is part of our belief and is mentioned in Quran several times. The verse from Surah Al-Taghagun reflects on it in a beautiful way which has learnings for us when looked into its depth.
يَعلَمُ ما فِي السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ وَيَعلَمُ ما تُسِرّونَ وَما تُعلِنونَ ۚ وَاللَّهُ عَليمٌ بِذاتِ الصُّدورِ
[Surah AL-TAGHABUN ( التغابن ) 64, Verse 4]
He knows whatever there is in the heavens and the earth, and He knows whatever you hide and whatever you disclose, and Allah knows best what is in the breasts.
In this verse, Allah SWT reflects on His knowledge of what’s unseen (heavens) and what’s seen (earth) for us – Allah SWT puts the heavens first, at the very beginning we are being taught we have no knowledge of the unseen except to the extent Allah SWT has shared with us.
In continuation, Allah SWT mentions having knowledge of what we hide and whatever we disclose – this reflects on deeds that we do in private, that is not ‘seen’ knowledge to fellow beings but Allah SWT has knowledge of it.
If we look at both expressions collectively, we understand Allah SWT is sharing with us details about His knowledge and that nothing is unseen to Him – and we only know what He chooses for us to know.
Towards the end, Allah SWT mentions that He knows whatever is in the hearts as well – that’s when we know the ‘intentions’ and thoughts we hold within us, those too, are what He knows best.
This verse, if understood in depth forms part of the belief system and clarifies for us the concepts that become part of the guiding principles for life.