He knows what you have concealed to others and what is more hidden than that. It is what you have thought of in your mind, or what you have kept secret in yourself, and what is more hidden than that, which is what you will keep secret in it. Some of them said that 'more hidden' is a superlative form. [Mahamud said: 'It is a superlative, and some said that 'more hidden' is a past action... etc.' Ahmad said: 'It is clear that making it a verb in both word and meaning is limited: as for the word, it necessitates the conjunction of the verbal sentence with the nominal one if the conjunction is with the larger sentence, or the conjunction of the past with the present if the conjunction is with the smaller one, and both are less than the better. As for the meaning, the intention is to encourage the abandonment of publicizing, as its benefit is nullified since Allah, the Exalted, knows the secret and what is more hidden than it. So how can there be any benefit in publicizing? Both interpretations are suitable for abandoning publicizing. If it is made a verb, it deviates from the intended context, even if it includes another benefit. This is not like His saying, 'He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not encompass Him in knowledge,' because there is a difference between the two contexts, and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.'] It means that He knows the secrets of the servants and what is hidden from them that He knows, just as His saying, 'He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not encompass Him in knowledge,' is not like that. If you say, how does the reward correspond to the condition? I say: Its meaning is that even if you publicize the mention of Allah, whether in supplication or otherwise, know that He is free from your publicizing. It is either a prohibition against publicizing, as in His saying, 'And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and with fear, and without publicizing in speech,' or it is teaching the servants that publicizing is not for making Allah hear but for another purpose. 'The best' is the feminine form of 'the better,' and it is described by names because its ruling is like that of the feminine, as in your saying: 'the good group,' and similar to it are 'other needs' and 'from Our great signs.' What He has preferred in His names regarding beauty over other names is their indication of meanings of sanctification, glorification, exaltation, and lordship, and the actions that are the ultimate in beauty.