within Yourself,” then this is correct, but it is needless elaboration, and the verse is clearer than that.

Moreover, the statement, “You know what lies within what is hidden concerning me, and I do not know what lies within what is hidden concerning You,” is ambiguous. For what is hidden concerning a person is whatever is concealed from others, even if some people have witnessed it. We believe in the unseen—that which is unseen to us—even though some of it is witnessed by others. As for “what is within myself,” no one other than Allah knows it.

Furthermore, the word ghayb (the unseen) is originally a verbal noun, but it is used to mean ghā’ib (that which is hidden). Thus, the unseen is that which is hidden. Accordingly, “my unseen” and “Your unseen” mean “what is hidden concerning me” and “what is hidden concerning You.” One should therefore say, “You know what is hidden concerning me, and I do not know what is hidden concerning You.” What need is there to say, “You know what lies within what is hidden concerning me, and I do not know what lies within what is hidden concerning You”?

How could Jesus rightly say to his Lord, “You know what lies within my unseen, or within what is hidden concerning me”? What could Jesus conceal from Allah, when He is a witness to all things? When the word “unseen” is used in addressing someone, it must refer to something unseen to that person.

Moreover, Allah’s unseen, which He has concealed from His servants and which His servants do not know