Ayah 53:11 — The heart did not lie about what it saw

مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ

“The heart did not lie about what it saw”.

Language points: كَذَبَ — primary and secondary uses

The primary meaning of كَذَبَ (Kadhaba) is “to lie”. It also has secondary meanings that include:

كَذَبَ الحَرُّ “The temperature or heat has lied” — used when the heat breaks and the temperature cools.
كَذَبَ العَيْن “The eye has lied” — when the sense of sight betrays it (e.g., a mirage).
كَذَبَ السَّيْر “The walking has lied” — when someone is stumbling and not walking effectively.
كَذَبَ الوَحْشِيُّ “The wild animal has lied” — when it runs for a stretch and then stops to look behind it (cautionary movement).
كَذَبَ القَوْمُ السُّرَى “The people lied against the travel” — when they were unable to travel (without means).
مَا كَذّبَ Concerning a person: He did not give up, was not cowardly, fulfilled his job; was true to his task.

In essence, these usages reflect a deficiency of strength or intensity in something — when it weakens, breaks, or doesn’t fulfill its function as it should.

Summary of secondary meanings of كَذَبَ (Kadhaba) therefore include:

  • A decline in intensity or sharpness.
  • Inability.
  • Losing toughness or stamina i.e., becoming weak.
  • Cowardice.
  • Misconception/underestimation.
  • Convenience.

All of these meanings reflect the opposite of what the Arabs viewed something should be or representative of its truth or true reality for them. As such they attached the meaning of lying to these realities.

The seen reality vs the unseen reality and two kinds of seeing

Allah describes humans as being composed of two parts: one part that is seen and another which is unseen. The physical aspect is seen, but the Ruh (رُوح) is unseen. The former contains the physical heart whilst the latter contains a spiritual unseen heart. Similarly, there are seen physical eyes and ears and unseen spiritual eyes and ears.

On many occasions the Qur’an is addressing the unseen spiritual aspects attached to these organs and not their physical realities:

ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُم مِّن بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَهِيَ كَالْحِجَارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً

Then after that your hearts became hardened, like stones or even harder (Al-Baqarah: 74).

لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا

They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear (Al-A’raf: 179).

When the heart is sealed

The unseen spiritual eyes and ears are connected to the unseen heart because when the heart is sealed, the eyes cannot see and the ears cannot hear (i.e., the truth):

خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ ۖ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ

Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil (Al-Baqarah: 7).

Insight concerning the verse: experience of seen and unseen

The Prophet ﷺ here is experiencing the seen and unseen world at the same time which we cannot do. He was granted access to some of the unseen which allowed him to see the Angels.

When Allah states: كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ “The heart did not lie about what it saw” He combines in this statement the unseen and the seen, because it is his spiritual experience that is seeing something physical. The Messenger ﷺ accepted what he saw because his heart was already spiritually conditioned.

The flip side: when hearts reject even the obvious

The disbeliever cannot accept the reality before him because his heart has not been spiritually conditioned:

وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ بَابًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّوا فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ (14) لَقَالُوا إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَارُنَا بَلْ نَحْنُ قَوْمٌ مَسْحُورُونَ

And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend, (14) They would say: “Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic” (Al-Hijr: 14-15).

وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ كِتَابًا فِي قِرْطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوهُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ لَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ

And even if We had sent down to you, [O Muhammad], a written scripture on pages and they touched it with their (own) hands, the disbelievers would surely say: “This is nothing but obvious magic” (Al-An’am: 7).

Language insights: الْفُؤَادُ — Laam of perfection

الْفُؤَادُ (Al-Fu’aad) — Allah didn’t say “His heart” but rather “The heart” with ال (Alif Laam). The Laam here is لَامُ الكَمَال — the “Laam of perfection” — implying that the Prophet’s heart was so perfect that only his heart could have seen what it saw. Other hearts would not be capable of withstanding the experience of looking at Jibreel (as).

Language insights: رَأَىٰ — seeing and grasping

رَأَىٰ (Ra’aa) in مَا رَأَىٰ can refer to two meanings: 1) to see (physically), and 2) to understand, internalise, take into consideration, or grasp something. An example is:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ

Have you not seen (i.e., considered or understood), [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? (Feel: 1).

This implies that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not just physically see something but rather also grasped, understood and took it in. This understanding encompasses the realisation of what it signified and the burden that he would have to carry.

Acceptance without faltering

As such: مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ — “The heart did not lie about what it saw” — implies that his heart was able to bear the burden and weight that a mountain wasn’t capable of, the burden that he fully grasped the consequences of reflected in the words رَأَىٰ “What he saw”.

His heart did not shy or cower from it but rather accepted it and what it signified fully.