And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.
“And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.”
And I have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and I am closer to him than his jugular vein. Verily, I created the human and I know the thoughts and desires that pass his mind. I am closer to him than the vein that is present in his neck and connected to his heart.
The plain meaning, from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِۦ نَفْسُهُۥ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ
And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.
What does Quran 50:16 mean?
The sentence before this one is what gives it its weight: We know what his soul whispers to him. The nearness described is not comfort in the abstract — it is the nearness of knowledge, closer than a thought is to the person having it. And the verse straight after names the two recording angels, one on the right and one on the left, so that the passage moves from what is known to what is written down.
Written from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir