Thus He has stated that He loves those who follow His Messenger and strive in His cause, and that He loves the God-fearing, the steadfast, those who turn to Him in repentance, and those who purify themselves. He, glorified be He, loves everything He has commanded, whether as an obligation or a recommendation.

His words:

“We know what his soul whispers to him, and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein”

entail that He, glorified be He, and His hosts entrusted with this know what the servant whispers within himself. As He says:

“Or do they think that We do not hear their secrets and their private conversations? Indeed We do, and Our messengers are with them, recording.”

Thus He hears, and those angels whom He wills hear—and whichever angels He wills.

As for recording, His messengers do the recording, as He says here:

“He does not utter a word except that beside him is an observer, ready to record.”

And He, exalted be He, says:

“Indeed, it is We who give life to the dead and record what they have sent ahead and the traces they leave behind.”

He thus speaks of recording using the word “We,” because His hosts record at His command. In the other verse, He distinguishes between hearing and recording, because He Himself hears, whereas deeds are recorded at His command, with the angels doing the recording.

His words:

“And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein”

are therefore like His words:

“And We record what they have sent ahead and the traces they leave behind.”

He said this because His angels draw near to the servant at His command, just as they record his deeds at His command. His nearness to everyone through the mediation of the angels is like His speaking to everyone through the mediation of the messengers, as He, exalted be He, says:

“It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger who then reveals, by His permission, whatever He wills.”