16 Preface وَلَقَد خَلَقنَا الإِنسانَ وَنَعلَمُ ما تُوَسوِسُ بِهِ نَفسُهُ ۖ وَنَحنُ أَقرَبُ إِلَيهِ مِن حَبلِ الوَريدِYusuf AliIt was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul1 makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.God created man, and gave him his limited free will. God knows inmost desires and motives of man even better than man does himself. He is nearer to a man than the man’s own jugular vein. The jugular vein is the big trunk vein, one on each side of the neck, which brings the blood back from the head to the heart. The two jugular veins correspond to the two carotid arteries which carry the blood from heart to the head. As the blood-stream is the vehicle of life and consciousness, the phrase “nearer than the jugular vein” implies that God knows more truly the innermost state of our feeling and consciousness than does our own ego.