A new quality is presented in the fourth verse, the word Samee’ and Qareeb have been mentioned together and the Messenger is addressed:
“It is because of the inspiration of my Lord to me: it is He who hears all things and is (ever) near.”
It suggests that had there were no revelations I too good be misled and it is the revelation from God that guides me to walk on the right path. This is not a logical conclusion drawn by any person when the thoughts of a person may be erroneous.
Some commentaries mention that a group of idolaters said to the Messenger, “You have become wayward because you have discarded the laws of our ancestors” and it was then that the verse has been revealed and said had I been alone then you could have attributed waywardness to me but my support is the divine revelation and so there can be no cause for becoming wayward for God is aware of the secrets of the heart and He is the knower of the unseen. This has already been said in the first two verses: “He is present everywhere” and three verses earlier it has been said, “He hears all the talk and is close to everyone.” This attribute has come for this verse.
What we learn from this verse is that the “ego” of mankind will lead him astray and total dependence on intellect is also not enough to attain the objective but to reach our desired goal we should walk in the path of the bright revelations.
The last point is that God is not close to us in the manner in which we are close to each other physically but He is still closer and closer than us. We will discuss this at the appropriate place Inshallah.