What is the meaning of the words of Allah, “They scheme, and Allah schemes; and Allah is the best of schemers” (Quran, 8:30)?

This expression is presented in the Quran by way of semantic correspondence and rhetorical contrast, as the scholars of eloquence explain. It is a powerful linguistic style frequently employed in the Noble Quran, such as in the verses, “They forgot Allah, so He forgot them” (Quran, 9:67), “So taste [the punishment] for having forgotten the meeting of this Day of yours; indeed, We have forgotten you” (Quran, 32: 14), “Indeed, they devise a plan, and I devise a plan” (Quran, 86: 15–16), and “And never is your Lord forgetful” (Quran, 19: 64).

Allah the Exalted is He, should never be described as engaging in plotting or scheming, and He is exalted above being subject to forgetfulness, “Your Lord is never forgetful” (Quran, 19: 64). Rather, the purport of these verses and similar ones like them is that the recompense corresponds to the nature of the deed. However extensive these people’s scheming and plotting may be, it is insignificant in comparison to Allah’s greatness, and to His power, sovereign dominion, retribution, and disposition of affairs in bringing about their destruction and suppressing their evil and falsehood.

Allah is exalted above His creation, and every attribute or action Allah, Most High, attributes to Himself transcends all that the human mind can ever conceive. Whatever crosses your mind, Allah is unlike it. The inability to grasp Divine reality is itself true understanding, and delving into the essence of the Lord is shirk (associating partners with Allah Almighty). 

 

And Allah Almighty knows best.