وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَىْءٍ إِنِّى فَاعِلٌ ذَٰلِكَ غَدًا · إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ وَٱذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ
"Do not say of anything, 'I shall certainly do that tomorrow' — without 'if God wills'. And remember your Lord when you forget."
Two verses stand at the exact middle of the story of the cave and turn the subject of the story into a rule.
I record this as my own reading, and its support is the position of the verses: what was disputed throughout the story was the unknowability of the length of time (12, 19, 22, 25-26). These two verses apply the same unknowability to the future: do not speak with certainty about tomorrow.
And the same limit was treated in Luqmān at 31/34 (wa mā tadrī nafsun mādhā taksibu ghadā). The two verses are read together: one reports that it is not known, the other commands that one speak accordingly.
| Reading | Sense |
|---|---|
| 1 | If you forget to say Illā an yashāʾa'llāh, say it later when you remember |
| 2 | Generally: to remember your Lord whenever you forget something |
وَلَبِثُوا۟ فِى كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلَٰثَ مِائَةٍ سِنِينَ وَٱزْدَادُوا۟ تِسْعًا · قُلِ ٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُوا۟ (25-26)
I record this as an observation about the word order: a figure is stated (three hundred and nine) and after it comes quli'llāhu aʿlamu bimā labithū. In the classical commentaries it is disputed whether this expression transmits the words of those who state the number or is itself a report; I transmit the disagreement and do not impose a preference.
What is certain is this, and it is read off the text: the sūra opens the matter of the number in three separate places, and in all three it ties it to the same place.