“Say, ‘I have no power to benefit or harm myself, except as Allah wills. Had I known the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me. I am only a warner and a bearer of good news for a people who believe.’” (188)

“Say, ‘I have no power to benefit or harm myself, except as Allah wills.’” Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The people of Mecca said, “O Muhammad, why does your Lord not inform you when prices are low before they rise, so that you may buy and profit when prices become high? And why does He not inform you of the land that is about to become drought-stricken, so that you may leave it for land that has become fertile?” Thereupon Allah Most High revealed, “Say, ‘I have no power to benefit myself.’” (1) That is, I am unable to procure benefit for myself by making a profit, or to ward off harm by leaving a land that is about to become drought-stricken—except for whatever Allah wills me to possess.

“Had I known the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me.” That is, had I known of fertility and drought, I would have accumulated much good—that is, wealth—for the year of famine; and no harm would have touched me, meaning hardship, poverty, and hunger.