Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Kahf Verse 24

Mufti Taqi Usmani

unless (you say - ‘if) Allah wills.’ And remember your Lord if you forget, and say (to those who asked you about the story of the People of the Cave), “May be, my Lord will lead me to something closer than this to guidance.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

without adding, “if Allah so wills!” But if you forget, then remember your Lord, and say, “I trust my Lord will guide me to what is more right than this.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

without adding, “if Allah wills.” And remember your Lord if you forget, and say, “My Lord will hopefully guide me to something closer to what is right.”

A. J. Arberry

but only, 'If God will'; and mention thy Lord, when thou forgettest, and say, 'It may be that my Lord will guide me unto something nearer to rectitude than this.')

Abdul Haleem

without adding, ‘God willing,’ and, whenever you forget, remember your Lord and say, ‘May my Lord guide me closer to what is right.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Except with this reservation that Allah so will. And remember thy Lord when thou forgettest; and say thou belike my Lord will guide me to something nearer than this to right direction.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Without adding, "So please Allah!" and call thy Lord to mind when thou forgettest, and say, "I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than this to the right road."

Abul Ala Maududi

unless Allah should will it. And should you forget (and make such a statement), remember your Lord and say: "I expect my Lord to guide me to what is nearer to rectitude than this."

Ahmed Ali

Without (adding), "if God may please;" and think of your Lord in ease you forget, and say: "Perhaps my Lord will show me a nearer way to rectitude."

Ahmed Raza Khan

Except “If Allah wills”; and remember your Lord when you forget, and say, “It is likely that my Lord will guide me to a more accurate way of virtue than this.”

Ali Quli Qarai

without [adding], ‘God willing.’ And when you forget, remember your Lord, and say, ‘Maybe my Lord will guide me to [something] more akin to rectitude than this.’

Ali Ünal

Without (adding) "If God wills." And remember and mention Him (straightaway) should you forget (to do so when expressing an intention for the future). And say: "I hope that my Lord will guide me to what is nearer to right conduct than this (forgetfulness of mine)."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Unless (you add to it) `God willing.´ And remember your Lord whenever you forget (and make a mistake) and say, `I hope my Lord will guide me to a course even shorter than this to the right path (leading to success).

English Literal

Except that (E) God wills/wants, and mention/remember your Lord if you forgot, and say: "Maybe/perhaps that (E) my Lord guides me to nearer/closer than that (a) correct/right guidance."

Faridul Haque

Except "If Allah wills"; and remember your Lord when you forget, and say, "It is likely that my Lord will guide me to a more accurate way of virtue than this."

Hamid S. Aziz

And never say of anything, "Verily, I am going to do that to-morrow,"

Hilali & Khan

Except (with the saying), "If Allah will!" And remember your Lord when you forget and say: "It may be that my Lord guides me unto a nearer way of truth than this."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And say not of anything: I will do that to-morrow,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Unless Allah pleases; and remember your Lord when you forget and say: Maybe my Lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Except if Allah will. And remember thy Lord when thou forgettest, and say: It may be that my Lord guideth me unto a nearer way of truth than this.

Muhammad Sarwar

without adding, "if God wills." Recall your Lord if you forget to do something. Say, "I hope that my Lord will provide me better guidance."

Qaribullah & Darwish

unless (you add) 'if Allah wills' And remember your Lord when you forget and say: 'It may be that my Lord will guide me to something nearer to rectitude than this'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Except (with the saying), "If Allah wills!" And remember your Lord when you forget and say: "It may be that my Lord guides me to a nearer way of truth than this."

Wahiduddin Khan

without [adding], "if God so wills." Remember your Lord whenever you might forget and say, "I trust my Lord will guide me to that which is even nearer to the right path than this."

Talal Itani

Without saying, “If God wills.” And remember your Lord if you forget, and say, “Perhaps my Lord will guide me to nearer than this in integrity.”

Tafsir jalalayn

without [adding], `If God will', in other words, unless [firmly] adhering to the will of God, exalted be He, by saying, `If God will' (insh'a'Llh). And remember your Lord, that is, [remember] His will, making [things] conditional on it, if you forget, to make [things] conditional on it; mentioning it after forgetting [it] is the equal [in validity] to mentioning it at the time of the statement -- as al-Hasan [al-Basr] and others have said -- as long as the person is still in the [same] place [in which he made the statement]. And say, `May be my Lord will guide me to [something] closer [in time] than this, [closer] than the story of the People of the Cave, as an indication of [the truth of] my prophethood, by way of guidance, and God indeed did so.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

إِلاَّ أَن يَشَاء اللَّهُ

And never say of anything, "I shall do such and such thing tomorrow." Except (with the saying), "If Allah wills!"

Here Allah, may He be glorified, shows His Messenger the correct etiquette when determining to do something in the future; this should always be referred to the will of Allah, the Knower of the Unseen, Who knows what was and what is yet to be and what is not to be, and how it will be if it is to be.

It was recorded in the Two Sahihs that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said;

قَالَ سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ دَاوُدَ عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ لَااَطُوفَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ عَلَى سَبْعِينَ امْرَأَةً وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ تِسْعِينَ امْرَأَةً وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ مِايَةِ امْرَأَةٍ تَلِدُ كُلُّ امْرَأَةٍ مِنْهُنَّ غُلَامًا يُقَاتِلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ

فَقِيلَ لَهُ وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ قَالَ لَهُ الْمَلَكُ قُلْ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ فَلَمْ يَقُلْ

فَطَافَ بِهِنَّ فَلَمْ تَلِدْ مِنْهُنَّ إِلاَّ امْرَأَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ نِصْفَ إِنْسَانٍ

فَقَالَ رَسُولُ الله

صلى الله عليه وسلّم


وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَوْ قَالَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ لَمْ يَحْنَثْ وَكَانَ دَرَكًا لِحَاجَتِه

وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ

وَلَقَاتَلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ فُرْسَانًا أَجْمَعُون

Suleiman bin Dawud (peace be upon them both) said;"Tonight I will go around to seventy women (according to some reports, it was ninety or one hundred women) so that each one of them will give birth to a son who will fight for the sake of Allah."
It was said to him, (according to one report, the angel said to him) "Say;`If Allah wills'", but he did not say it.
He went around to the women but none of them gave birth except for one who gave birth to a half-formed child.

The Messenger of Allah said,

By the One in Whose hand is my soul, had he said, "If Allah wills," he would not have broken his oath, and that would have helped him to attain what he wanted.

According to another report,

They would all have fought as horsemen in the cause of Allah.

At the beginning of this Surah we discussed the reason why this Ayah was revealed;when the Prophet was asked about the story of the people of the Cave, he said, "I will tell you tomorrow." Then the revelation was delayed for fifteen days. Since we discussed this at length at the beginning of the Surah, there is no need to repeat it here.

وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ

And remember your Lord when you forget,

It was said that this means, if you forget to say "If Allah wills", then say it when you remember.

This was the view of Abu Al-`Aliyah and Al-Hasan Al-Basri.

Hushaym reported from Al-A`mash from Mujahid that concerning a man who swears an oath, Ibn Abbas said

"He may say `If Allah wills' even if it is a year later."

Ibn Abbas used to interpret this Ayah;
وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ
(And remember your Lord when you forget) in this way.

Al-A`mash was asked, "Did you hear this from Mujahid?"

He said, "Layth bin Abi Salim told it to me."

The meaning of Ibn Abbas' view, that a person may say "If Allah wills", even if it is a year later, is;

that if he forgets to say it when he makes the oath or when he speaks, and he remembers it later, even a year later, the Sunnah is that he should say it, so that he will still be following the Sunnah of saying "If Allah wills", even if that is after breaking his oath.

This was also the view of Ibn Jarir, but he stated that this does not make up for breaking the oath or mean that one is no longer obliged to offer expiation.

What Ibn Jarir said is correct, and it is more appropriate to understand the words of Ibn Abbas in this way.

And Allah knows best.

وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَيْءٍ إِنِّي فَاعِلٌ ذَلِكَ غَدًا


إِلاَّ أَن يَشَاء اللَّهُ وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ

And never say of anything, "I shall do such and such thing tomorrow." Except (with the saying), "If Allah wills!" And remember your Lord when you forget,

At-Tabarani recorded that Ibn Abbas said that this meant saying,

"If Allah wills."

وَقُلْ عَسَى أَن يَهْدِيَنِ رَبِّي لاَِقْرَبَ مِنْ هَذَا رَشَدًا



and say;"It may be that my Lord guides me to a nearer way of truth than this."

meaning, `if you (O Prophet) are asked about something you know nothing about, ask Allah about it, and turn to Him so that He may guide you to what is right.'

And Allah knows best