And Allah, exalted above the seven heavens, heard the conversation between them both; likewise, He hears your own words even when you utter them in a whisper. “Or do they imagine that We do not hear their secrets and their private talk?” (Q 43:80). Therefore, never let Allah hear from you anything He would disapprove of; instead, strive to let Him hear only that which pleases Him.

Another aspect of the Name as-Samīʿ is that He is the Hearer of supplication—that is, the One who answers it. Abraham عليه السلام said, “Indeed, my Lord is Hearing of supplication” (Q 14:39), meaning: He responds to it. The Exalted therefore answers the plea of the distressed even if the supplicant is a disbeliever. For this reason He rescues those at sea when waves, like towering canopies, overwhelm them; they call upon Allah with sincere devotion, and He delivers them. He likewise responds to the call of the oppressed, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Beware the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no veil between it and Allah.” He also answers whoever worships Him and praises Him, just as the worshipper says during the prayer: Samiʿa-llāhu liman ḥamidah—“Allah hears (and responds to) the one who praises Him.”

Al-ʿAlīm, “the All-Knowing,” is another of His names. Allah’s knowledge is vast, encompassing all things. He says, “With Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He. He knows what is on land and in the sea; no leaf falls without His knowledge, nor a grain within the darkness of the earth, nor anything moist or dry, but that it is (written) in a clear Book” (Q 6:59). He knows what is in the wombs, and the “keys of the unseen” are five, mentioned in His statement: “Indeed, Allah (alone) has knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain; He knows what is in the wombs; and no soul knows….”