Quran Universe
7:188

قُل لَّآ أَمۡلِكُ لِنَفۡسِي نَفۡعٗا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُۚ وَلَوۡ كُنتُ أَعۡلَمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبَ لَٱسۡتَكۡثَرۡتُ مِنَ ٱلۡخَيۡرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ ٱلسُّوٓءُۚ إِنۡ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٞ وَبَشِيرٞ لِّقَوۡمٖ يُؤۡمِنُونَ

Qul la amliku linafsee nafAAan wala darran illa ma shaa Allahu walaw kuntu aAAlamu alghayba laistakthartu mina alkhayri wama massaniya alssooo in ana illa natheerun wabasheerun liqawmin yuminoona

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."

Word by word
  1. قُلSay
  2. لَّآNot
  3. أَمۡلِكُI have power
  4. لِنَفۡسِيfor myself
  5. نَفۡعٗا(to) benefit
  6. وَلَاand no
  7. ضَرًّا(power to) harm
  8. إِلَّاexcept
  9. مَاwhat
  10. شَآءَwills
  11. ٱللَّهُۚAllah
  12. وَلَوۡAnd if
  13. كُنتُI would
  14. أَعۡلَمُknow
  15. ٱلۡغَيۡبَ(of) the unseen
  16. لَٱسۡتَكۡثَرۡتُsurely I could have multiplied
  17. مِنَof
  18. ٱلۡخَيۡرِthe good
  19. وَمَاand not
  20. مَسَّنِيَ(could) have touched me
  21. ٱلسُّوٓءُۚthe evil
  22. إِنۡNot
  23. أَنَا۠(am) I
  24. إِلَّاexcept
  25. نَذِيرٞa warner
  26. وَبَشِيرٞand a bearer of good tidings
  27. لِّقَوۡمٖto a people
  28. يُؤۡمِنُونَwho believe
Al-A'raf · 7:188Makkah

If I knew the unseen, I would have avoided all harm.

The Prophet ﷺ is told to say he does not know the future

What he says about himself
no powerover my own harm or benefit
no unseenor I would have avoided loss
only
warner and bearerof good news
Who controls outcomes
special peoplefortune-tellers, saints
Allah aloneeven the Prophet ﷺ said so

The Prophet ﷺ was told to say he has no power over benefit or harm to himself, except as Allah wills. Ibn 'Abbas explained: if I knew the unseen, I would know which deals would profit, and poverty would never touch me. He is only a warner and a bringer of good news.

Someone offers to read your future in a cup, a palm, an app. You are anxious about the job interview, the test results. If even the Prophet ﷺ did not know the unseen, no one at a market stall does.

Someone might be able to tell me what is coming.

The unseen is with Allah alone, so I trust Him and prepare.

Try this

When anxious about the future today, say: Allah knows and I do not, and do one practical thing.

Related72:2619:97
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

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]