18إِلّا مَنِ استَرَقَ السَّمعَ فَأَتبَعَهُ شِهابٌ مُبينٌMuhammad Asadso that anyone who seeks to learn [the unknowable] by stealth is pursued by a flame clear to see.1Lit., "excepting [or "except that"] anyone who seeks to hear by stealth...", etc. The implication seems to be that any attempt at fathoming the mysteries of the unknowable by such illicit means ("by stealth") is inevitably followed by "a flame clear to see", i.e., by burning, self-evident frustration. (Cf. also 37:10.)