—His Prophet—
“and they do not encompass anything of His knowledge except what He wills.”

Rather, Exalted is He: He knows what has already been, what will yet be, and what would be were it to come into being, as in His statement, “And if they were returned, they would surely relapse into that which they had been forbidden.” He may also disclose to some of His servants, according to His will, portions of both kinds of knowledge; yet they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills.

The Exalted said:
“We did not appoint the qiblah you previously faced except that We might know who follows the Messenger from those who turn on their heels.”

He said:
“Do you suppose you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive and made evident the steadfast?”

And He said:
“Such are the days We alternate among mankind, so that Allah may know those who believe and that He may take from you martyrs.”

And His saying:
“What befell you on the day the two hosts met was by Allah’s leave, that He might know the believers and that He might know the hypocrites.”

And His saying:
“Do you think you will be left [in peace] while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive, and who take none for intimate allies apart from Allah, His Messenger, and the believers?”

And His saying:
“Then We raised them up so that We might know which of the two parties could best calculate the span of their stay.”

And His saying:
“We certainly tried those before them, so Allah will surely make known the truthful and will surely make known the liars”—until His words, “and Allah will surely make known those who believe and will surely make known the hypocrites.”

And His saying:
“We shall surely test you until We know those of you who strive and are patient, and We shall test your affairs.”

—and many other passages besides.

It is related from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding His words, “except that We might know,” that it means “so that We may see,” and it is likewise reported, “so that We may distinguish.” This, according to the great majority of commentators, is the intent: so that We may see and distinguish. A group of scholars explained: it is “so that He may know it as an actual, realized fact” after He had already known it would occur. One of them expressed it thus: knowledge is of two degrees—knowledge of a thing before it exists, and knowledge of it after it exists; judgment pertains to the latter, for it is what entails reward and punishment. Hence the meaning of His words “that We might know” is: that We might possess the sort of knowledge by virtue of which the doer becomes liable to reward or punishment. There is no doubt that He—glorified is He—already knew it would occur; however, the thing known had not yet come into existence. This is like His saying, “Say: Are you informing Allah of something He does not know in….”