Surah Al-A'raaf · سُوْرَةُ الْاَعْرَافِ · Juz 9

Q 7:188

قُل لَّآ أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِى نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ ٱلْغَيْبَ لَٱسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ ٱلسُّوٓءُ ۚ إِنْ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Translations

Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allah has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me. I am not except a warner and a bringer of good tidings to a people who believe."

Sahih International · EN

Dis: «Je ne détiens pour moi-même ni profit ni dommage, sauf ce qu'Allah veut. Et si je connaissais l'Inconnaissable, j'aurais eu des biens en abondance et aucun mal ne m'aurait touché. Je ne suis, pour les gens qui croient, qu'un avertisseur et un annonciateur».

Muhammad Hamidullah · FR

Tafsir

Say to them O Muhammad: 'I do not have the ability to bring good to myself, or to remove any harm from myself, except by Allah’s will. The dominion of these things belongs to Allah alone, and I only know what Allah taught me. I do not know the unseen, because if I did, I would have used what I know to serve my own interests, and to protect myself from misfortune, due to knowing about things before they happened. I am only a messenger from Allah, warning of a painful punishment, and bringing good news of Allah’s generous reward for a people who have faith, believing that I am a messenger from Him, and in what was revealed to me.'

Al-Mukhtasar fi Tafsir al-Quran · Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies

Read Ibn Kathir (Ibn Kathir (abridged, English))

Say : "I possess no power over benefit or harm to myself except as Allah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghayb (Unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe. (188) The Messenger (ﷺ) does not know the Unseen, and He cannot bring Benefit or Harm even to Himself Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to entrust all matters to Him and to inform, about himself, that he does not know the unseen future, but he knows of it only what Allah informs him. Allah said in another Ayah, عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ((He Alone is) the All-Knower of the Ghayb (Unseen), and He reveals to none His Ghayb.)[72:26] Ad-Dahhak reported that Ibn 'Abbas said that, وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ (If I had the knowledge of the Ghayb (Unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth.) refers to money. In another narration, Ibn 'Abbas commented, "I would have knowledge of how much profit I would make with what I buy, and I would always sell what I would make profit from, وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ ("and no evil should have touched me.") and poverty would never touch me." Ibn Jarir said, "And others said, 'This means that if I know the Unseen then I would prepare for the years of famine during the prosperous years, and in the time of high cost, I would have prepared for it.'" 'Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam also commented on this Ayah; وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ ("and no evil should have touched me."), "I would have avoided and saved myself from any type of harm before it comes." Allah then stated that the Prophet ﷺ is a warner and bearer of good news. He warns against the torment and brings good news of Paradise for the believers, فَإِنَّمَا يَسَّرْنَاهُ بِلِسَانِكَ لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَتُنذِرَ بِهِ قَوْمًا لُّدًّا (So We have made this (the Qur'an) easy on your tongue, only that you may give glad tidings to the pious, and warn with it the most quarrelsome of people.)[19:97]

Arabic text: Tanzil (Uthmani). Translations: Sahih International (en), Muhammad Hamidullah (fr). tanzil.net