Tell them: "I am not master of my own gain or loss but as God may please. If I had the knowledge of the Unknown I would have enjoyed abundance of the good, and no evil would have touched me. I am only a bearer of warnings and bringer of happy news for those who believe."
Say, “I have no autonomy to benefit or hurt myself, except what Allah wills; and were I to procure knowledge of the hidden on my own, it would be that I had accumulated a lot of good; and no misfortune would touch me; I am purely a Herald of Warning and Glad Tidings to the people who believe.”
Say: 'I have no power to profit for myself; or hurt, but as God will. Had I knowledge of the Unseen I would have acquired much good, and evil would not have touched me. I am only a warner, and a bearer of good tidings, to a people believing.'
Say [O Prophet]: "It is not within my power to bring benefit to, or avert harm from, myself, except as God may please. And if I knew that which is beyond the reach of human perception, abundant good fortune-would surely have fallen to my lot, and no evil would ever have touched me. I am nothing but a warner, and a herald of glad tidings unto people who will believe."
Say thou: I possess no power over benefit or hurt to myself save as Allah willeth; and had I knowledge of the unseen I would have amassed ample good, and evil would not have touched me. I am naught but a warner and a bringer of tidings unto a people who believe.
Say (O Muhammad SAW): "I possess no power of benefit or hurt to myself except as Allah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghaib (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."
Say, “I have no control over any benefit or harm to myself, except as God wills. Had I known the future, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me. I am only a warner, and a herald of good news to a people who believe.”
Tell them [O Muhammad]: 'I have no power to benefit or harm myself except as Allah may please. And had I knowledge of the unseen, I should have amassed all kinds of good, and no evil would have ever touched me. I am merely a warner and the herald of glad tidings to those who have faith.'
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."
Say: For myself I have no power to benefit, nor power to hurt, save that which Allah willeth. Had I knowledge of the Unseen, I should have abundance of wealth, and adversity would not touch me. I am but a warner, and a bearer of good tidings unto folk who believe.
Say, ‘I have no control over any benefit for myself, nor [over] any harm except what Allah may wish. Had I known the Unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no ill would have befallen me. I am only a warner and bearer of good news to a people who have faith.’
Say: 'I do not have the power to acquire benefits or to avert harm from myself, except by the Will of Allah. Had I possessed knowledge of the unseen, I would have availed myself of much that is good, and no harm would have touched me. But I am only a warner and a bearer of glad tidings for a nation who believe.
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."
(Muhammad), say, "I have no control over my benefits or sufferings, without the will of God. Had I known about the unseen, I would have gained much good and would have faced no suffering. I am only a warner and I preach the glad news to the believing people."
Say: I do not control any benefit or harm for my own soul except as Allah please; and had I known the unseen I would have had much of good and no evil would have touched me; I am nothing but a warner and the giver of good news to a people who believe.
Qul l<u>a</u> amliku linafsee nafAAan wal<u>a</u> <u>d</u>arran ill<u>a</u> m<u>a</u> sh<u>a</u>a All<u>a</u>hu walaw kuntu aAAlamu alghayba la<b>i</b>stakthartu mina alkhayri wam<u>a</u> massaniya a<b>l</b>ssooo in an<u>a</u> ill<u>a</u> na<u>th</u>eerun wabasheerun liqawmin yuminoon<b>a</b>
Say, "I myself have no power to benefit or do harm, save as God pleases. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I would have availed myself of an abundance of good, and no harm would have touched me. I am but a warner and a bearer of good tidings for those who will believe."
Say: "I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as Allah willeth. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I should have multiplied all good, and no evil should have touched me: I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings to those who have faith."
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
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.'
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.'
<p>The Verse 188 clears away a common misbelief of the people regarding the prophets of Allah. They thought that the prophets must possess the knowledge of each and everything in the universe, including the knowledge of the unseen future and unknown past. Similarly, they thought that the prophets must possess the power of bringing benefit or harm to any one out of their own will. The verse made it clear that the all-encompassing knowledge is an exclusive attribute of Allah which cannot be ascribed to any created being. Ascribing these exclusive attributes to anyone other than Allah is the greatest transgression and is tantamount to associating partners with Allah. The very purpose of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an and the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been to eliminate all the traces of plurality of god and to establish the purest unity of Allah (Tauhid).</p><p>The Holy Prophet has been asked to declare that, not to speak of others, even he was unable to harm or benefit himself and that he did not possess the knowledge of the unseen. Had he possessed such knowledge, he would have stored all the good for himself and would have saved himself from every possible harm. There are evident instances in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ could not achieve his objectives inspite of all his effort, and in many other instances, he could not save himself from the damages and harm that reached him. The incident of the treaty of Hudaibiyah is an evident example when the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his companions travelled all the way to Makkah in order to perform the ` Umrah but were stopped by the unbelievers of Makkah. Despite all their desire and effort, they had to go back to Madinah without performing ` Umrah. similarly, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was wounded in the battle of Uhud and the Muslims faced temporary defeat.</p><p>Perhaps, such events were allowed to happen, so that it may be demonstrated in practical terms that the Prophets, with due regards to their being closest to Allah and being the best of all the human beings, did not possess divine power and encompassing knowledge.</p><p>They were human like other human beings. The Christians fell prey to the same error. They ascribed the divine attributes of Allah to their Prophet and went astray.</p><p>The Prophets, however, are invested by Allah with as much knowledge and power as no other human being has ever acquired. They Holy Prophet ﷺ was certainly favoured with the degree of knowledge which surpassed the knowledge of all other prophets. He informed the Muslims of many things which were to happen in future. All his foretellings were seen to happen exactly as he had foretold.</p><p>We can say that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was given the knowledge of a number of unseen things, but in Qur'anic terminology this is not termed as	(the knowledge of the unseen). Therefore, on the basis of this we are not allowed to call the Holy Prophet ﷺ عَالِمُ الغیب (the knower of the unseen), as knower of the unseen is none other than Allah.</p><p>The last sentence of the verse said, إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ‌ وَبَشِيرٌ‌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ I am but a warner and a harbinger of good for people who believe." That is, he has been assigned the duty of warning the evil doers against the punishment of Allah and give the good tidings of great reward by Allah to those who are righteous.</p>
The Verse 188 clears away a common misbelief of the people regarding the prophets of Allah. They thought that the prophets must possess the knowledge of each and everything in the universe, including the knowledge of the unseen future and unknown past. Similarly, they thought that the prophets must possess the power of bringing benefit or harm to any one out of their own will. The verse made it clear that the all-encompassing knowledge is an exclusive attribute of Allah which cannot be ascribed to any created being. Ascribing these exclusive attributes to anyone other than Allah is the greatest transgression and is tantamount to associating partners with Allah. The very purpose of the revelation of the Holy Qur'an and the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been to eliminate all the traces of plurality of god and to establish the purest unity of Allah (Tauhid).The Holy Prophet has been asked to declare that, not to speak of others, even he was unable to harm or benefit himself and that he did not possess the knowledge of the unseen. Had he possessed such knowledge, he would have stored all the good for himself and would have saved himself from every possible harm. There are evident instances in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ could not achieve his objectives inspite of all his effort, and in many other instances, he could not save himself from the damages and harm that reached him. The incident of the treaty of Hudaibiyah is an evident example when the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his companions travelled all the way to Makkah in order to perform the ` Umrah but were stopped by the unbelievers of Makkah. Despite all their desire and effort, they had to go back to Madinah without performing ` Umrah. similarly, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was wounded in the battle of Uhud and the Muslims faced temporary defeat.Perhaps, such events were allowed to happen, so that it may be demonstrated in practical terms that the Prophets, with due regards to their being closest to Allah and being the best of all the human beings, did not possess divine power and encompassing knowledge.They were human like other human beings. The Christians fell prey to the same error. They ascribed the divine attributes of Allah to their Prophet and went astray.The Prophets, however, are invested by Allah with as much knowledge and power as no other human being has ever acquired. They Holy Prophet ﷺ was certainly favoured with the degree of knowledge which surpassed the knowledge of all other prophets. He informed the Muslims of many things which were to happen in future. All his foretellings were seen to happen exactly as he had foretold.We can say that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was given the knowledge of a number of unseen things, but in Qur'anic terminology this is not termed as	(the knowledge of the unseen). Therefore, on the basis of this we are not allowed to call the Holy Prophet ﷺ عَالِمُ الغیب (the knower of the unseen), as knower of the unseen is none other than Allah.The last sentence of the verse said, إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ‌ وَبَشِيرٌ‌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ I am but a warner and a harbinger of good for people who believe." That is, he has been assigned the duty of warning the evil doers against the punishment of Allah and give the good tidings of great reward by Allah to those who are righteous.
<h2 class="title">The Messenger does not know the Unseen, and He cannot bring Benefit or Harm even to Himself</h2><p>Allah commanded His Prophet 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, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">عَـلِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلاَ يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَداً </div><p>((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, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لاَسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ</div><p>(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, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ السُّوءُ</div><p>("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; </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَمَا مَسَّنِىَ السُّوءُ</div><p>("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 is a warner and bearer of good news. He warns against the torment and brings good news of Paradise for the believers, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَإِنَّمَا يَسَّرْنَـهُ بِلَسَانِكَ لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْماً لُّدّاً </div><p>(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 </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">هُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلاً خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّآ أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ ءَاتَيْتَنَا صَـلِحاً لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّـكِرِينَ </div>
The Messenger does not know the Unseen, and He cannot bring Benefit or Harm even to HimselfAllah commanded His Prophet 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, عَـلِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلاَ يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَداً ((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 لاَسْتَكْثَرْتُ 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 مَسَّنِىَ 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 مَسَّنِىَ 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 is a warner and bearer of good news. He warns against the torment and brings good news of Paradise for the believers, فَإِنَّمَا يَسَّرْنَـهُ بِلَسَانِكَ لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْماً لُّدّاً (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 هُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلاً خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّآ أَثْقَلَت دَّعَوَا اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ ءَاتَيْتَنَا صَـلِحاً لَّنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّـكِرِينَ 