Surah Al-Kahf 18:49
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 49 of 110
وَوُضِعَ ٱلْكِتَٰبُ فَتَرَى ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَٰوَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَٰذَا ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةًۭ وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّآ أَحْصَىٰهَا ۚ وَوَجَدُوا۟ مَا عَمِلُوا۟ حَاضِرًۭا ۗ وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًۭا
Translation
The record of their deeds will be laid open and you will see the guilty, dismayed at what they contain, saying, ‘Woe to us! What a record this is! It does not leave any deed, small or large, unaccounted for!’ They will find everything they ever did laid in front of them: your Lord will not be unjust to anyone.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'And the record will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is in it, saying: Woe to us! What is this record that leaves out nothing, small or great, but has recorded it? And they will find all they did present. And your Lord wrongs no one.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the terror of total recall, 'la yughadiru saghiratan wala kabira', not the smallest thing omitted, and the perfect justice: everything present, no one wronged. Ask yourself: I live as though the small things vanish, the minor cruelty, the private indulgence, the tiny dishonesty no one saw. This verse insists nothing is too small to be written; the record omits nothing. That is terrifying if I've been careless with the 'small', but also deeply just: nothing good is too small to be counted either. If every 'small' thing is recorded, does that change how I treat the tiny, unwitnessed choices I assumed didn't matter?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:49 is discussed in 17 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
- Deeds (Amal) (key verse)
- Reward (Thawab) (key verse)
- Writing (Kitabah) (key verse)
- Striving (Sa'y)
- Responsibility (Mas'uliyyah)
- Recompense (Jaza)
- Accountability (Hisab)
- Fear (Khawf)
- Questioning (Su'al)
- Joy (Farah)
- Recitation (Qira'ah)
- Concealment (Kitman)
- Play (La'ib)
- The Last Day (Al-Yawm al-Akhir)
- Attributes of Allah (Sifat Allah)
- Justice (Adl)
- Knowledge (Ilm)
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Kahf 18:49 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.