يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلرُّسُلَ فَيَقُولُ مَاذَآ أُجِبْتُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّٰمُ ٱلْغُيُوبِ
"On the day God gathers the messengers He will say: 'What answer were you given?' They will say: 'We have no knowledge. You alone are the Knower of all that is hidden.'"
And this sentence will be repeated word for word once more on the sūra's last page: the close of 5/116 too is innaka anta ʿallāmu'l-ghuyūb.
| 5/109 | The messengers' answer: lā ʿilma lanā · innaka anta ʿallāmu'l-ghuyūb |
|---|---|
| 5/116 | Jesus's answer: wa lā aʿlamu mā fī nafsik · innaka anta ʿallāmu'l-ghuyūb |
The same sentence twice, seven verses apart. This repetition can be verified from the text, and it sets the last section inside a frame.
I record this as my own reading: the sūra's last section stands between two sentences that grant the limit of knowledge. And everything recounted in between — the miracles, the table, the reckoning — is inside those two sentences.
In the verse the favours given to Jesus are enumerated, and the same qualification is put on each of the verbs:
| Verb | Qualification |
|---|---|
| Takhluqu mina'ṭ-ṭīni ka-hayʾati'ṭ-ṭayr | Bi-idhnī |
| Fa-tanfukhu fīhā fa-takūnu ṭayran | Bi-idhnī |
| Wa tubriʾu'l-akmaha wa'l-abraṣa | Bi-idhnī |
| Wa idh tukhriju'l-mawtā | Bi-idhnī |
Four verbs, four qualifications — and besides these, the subject of the verbs idh ayyadtuka bi-rūḥi'l-qudus, idh ʿallamtuka'l-kitāba wa'l-ḥikma, idh kafaftu banī Isrāʾīla ʿank is directly the first person singular.
I record this as an observation about the language, and its ground is the repetition itself: in enumerating the miracles the verse each time inserts their source. That is, the list is not a transfer of authority but a counting of favours.
And this prepares within the text the ground for the question that will come six verses later (5/116).
Akmah (ك-م-ه): blind from birth; abraṣ (ب-ر-ص): a disease of the skin. Both were treated at Āl ʿImrān 3/49; I rely on that treatment.