His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They will say, 'Three, and their fourth is their dog.' And they will say, 'Five, and their sixth is their dog,' as a conjecture by which they are guessing. And they will say, 'Seven, and their eighth is their dog.' Say, 'My Lord knows best their number; none knows them except a few.' So do not argue concerning them except for an outward argument, and do not inquire about them from any of them.'" And do not say concerning anything, 'Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,' except that Allah wills. And remember your Lord when you forget and say, 'Perhaps my Lord will guide me to a closer guidance than this.' The pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They will say" refers to the people of the Torah among those contemporaneous with Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. This is because they disagreed about the number of the people of the cave, as mentioned in this disagreement. The majority read: "Three," while Ibn Muhaisin read: "Three" with the ت (ta) merged into the ث (tha). Shibl narrated from Ibn Kathir: "Five" with the م (meem) opened, following the ten. Ibn Muhaisin read: "Five" with the خ (kha) and م (meem) broken. His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "As a conjecture by which they are guessing" means: as a guess. It is borrowed from stoning, as if a person throws at the unknown problematic place with his conjecture time after time, stoning it with it in hopes of hitting it. From this comes the translator, and the translation of the book, and from it is the saying of Zuhair: 'And war is nothing but what you know and have tasted, and it is not about it the narrated story.' The و (waw) in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And their eighth is their dog" is the way of the grammarians in that it is a conjunction that entered at the end of the statement about their number, to clarify their matter, and to indicate that this is the end of what was said. If it were omitted, the statement would still be correct. And if it were in what preceded from His saying: "Their fourth is their dog" and "Their sixth is their dog," the statement would still be correct. A group of them, Ibn Khalawayh, say it is the و (waw) of eight. Al-Thaalabi mentioned this from Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash, that Quraysh used to say in their count: six, seven, and eight, nine, so the و (waw) enters in the eight. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And its explanation has preceded, and it is in the Qur'an in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong" [At-Tawbah: 112], and His saying: "And its doors were opened" [Az-Zumar: 73]. As for His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Widows and virgins" [At-Tahrim: 5], and His saying: "Seven nights and eight days" [Al-Haaqqa: 7], it is imagined in these two places that it is the و (waw) of eight, and it is not so; rather, it is necessary and the speech cannot do without it. And Allah, exalted and majestic is He, commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in this to refer the knowledge of their number to Him, exalted and majestic is He. Then He informed that the knowledge of that among humans is few, and it is intended by it a people from the people of the Book. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, used to say: "I am among that few, and they were seven, and their eighth is their dog." Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

This is evidenced by the verse. When the Qur'an narrated the saying of those who said three and five, it associated the saying with the fact that he stoned in the unseen. This cast doubt on both of them. Then it narrated this statement and did not cast doubt on it at all, but rather left it recorded. Also, this strengthens the claim that it is the 'and' of eight, because it only occurs when the number of eight is correct.

And His saying, "So do not argue with them except for an apparent argument," means according to some sayings: by the apparent of what We have revealed to you, which is a return of their count to Allah, glorified and exalted is He. It is said: the meaning of 'apparent' is that he says: it is not as you say, and similar to this, and he does not argue about a matter predetermined in that, for that would be arguing in the hidden of the matter. And Al-Tabrizi said: "Apparent" means: going away. And he recited:

And that is an apparent complaint from you.

And He did not permit him in this verse to argue, but His saying, "except for an apparent argument," is a metaphor, in that those of the Book argue with him. His revisiting them was called an argument, then he qualified it by saying that it is apparent, thus differing from the real blameworthy argument. And "argument" is derived from 'mirya,' which is doubt, as if it is the dispute. The pronoun in His saying, "with them," refers back to the People of the Cave, and in His saying, "from them," refers back to the contemporaneous People of the Book. And His saying, "So do not argue with them," means: in their count, and the count was omitted for the indication of the apparent saying upon it.

And His saying, "And do not say to anything," in the verse. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, admonished His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, for his saying to the disbelievers: Tomorrow I will inform you of the answer to your questions, and why he did not make an exception in that. Thus, revelation was withheld from him for fifteen days until this became difficult for him, and the disbelievers spread rumors about it. Then this surah was revealed to him as a relief, and he was commanded in this verse not to say about any matter: I will do such and such tomorrow except that he should condition that with the will of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. The 'lam' in His saying, "to anything," is like "in," or as if he said: for the sake of something. And His saying, "except that Allah wills," in the speech has an omission that the apparent necessitates and brevity improves, its estimation is: except that you say "except that Allah wills," or except that you say "if Allah wills." So the meaning is: except that you mention the will of Allah, thus "except that Allah wills" is not from the saying that he was forbidden about. And a group said: His saying, "except that Allah wills" is an exception from His saying: "And do not say."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a saying that Al-Tabari narrated and refuted, and it is from the corruption in that it was obligatory not to be narrated.

And His saying, "And remember your Lord when you forget," Ibn Abbas and Al-Hasan said: Its meaning and the indication of it is to the exception, meaning: let him make an exception after a while if he forgets the exception initially to be free from the group of those who did not condition their action with the will of Allah. And Ikrimah said: The meaning is: and remember your Lord when you become angry.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the people have spoken about this verse regarding the exception in the oath. The verse is not about oaths, but rather it is about the Sunnah of exception in matters other than oaths. However, since people have spoken about it, we should mention something of that.

As for Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, and all of his companions - as far as I know - and many of the scholars, they say: The exception does not benefit and does not nullify the expiation unless it is connected to the oath. And 'Ata said: He may make an exception regarding the amount of milk from the abundant she-camel.

And Qatadah said: If he makes an exception before he stands, then he has his exception. And Ibn Hanbal said: He has the exception as long as he is in that matter, and this was also said by Ibn Rahawayh. And Tawus and Al-Hasan said: The exception benefits as long as the one swearing is in his gathering. And Ibn Jubair said: The exception benefits only after four months. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: The exception benefits even after a year. And Mujahid said: After two years. And Abu Al-Aliyah said: It benefits forever.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the people have differed in the interpretation regarding Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them. Al-Tabari and others said: Ibn Abbas meant that it benefits in making the one swearing in the rank of those who make exceptions after a year from his swearing. As for the expiation, it does not drop from him. Al-Tabari said: And I do not know anyone who says (the exception benefits after a period) saying that the expiation drops. He said: And this is refuted by the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Whoever swears an oath and then sees something better than it, let him expiate and do that which is better." If the exception were to nullify the expiation, it would have been easier for the community, and there would have been no benefit in mentioning the expiation.

And Al-Zahrawi said: Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, only spoke about the exception after a year for one who said: I will do such and such, not for one who swore and wanted to nullify his oath.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And a group of the jurists went to the view that the position of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, is the dropping of the expiation. They imposed on everyone who says (the exception benefits after a period) the dropping of the expiation, and they rejected the saying after imposing it. And the exception is only in the oath by Allah, it cannot be in divorce or similar matters, nor in walking to Mecca. This is the saying of Malik and a group.

And Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, and the people of opinion, and Tawus and Hammād said: The exception in that is permissible, and there is no exception in the ghamus oath that benefits, nor is the exception by intention, but it must be a saying and utterance.

And His saying, the Most High: "And say, perhaps my Lord will guide me" - the verse. Muhammad Al-Kufi, the interpreter, said: It is with its words what everyone who does not make an exception is commanded to say, and it is an expiation for forgetting the exception. And the majority said: It is a supplication that is commanded without this specification.

And the majority read: "Yahdīnī" with the affirmation of the yāʼ, and this is the reading of Ibn Kathīr, Nafiʻ, and Abu ʻAmr. And Talḥa ibn Maṣrif read: "Yahdīn" without the yāʼ in the connection, and this is the reading of Ibn ʻĀmir, ʿĀsim, Hamzah, and al-Kisāʼī.

And the reference by "this" is to the correction that occurs from one who forgets the exception. Al-Zajjāj said: The meaning is: Perhaps Allah will make the evidence for my prophethood easier than the evidence of the companions of the cave.

Qāḍī Abu Muḥammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: What I have presented is more accurate, meaning: Perhaps He will guide me in what I will face in my affairs. And this verse addresses the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and it also encompasses all of his nation, because it is a ruling that people frequently encounter, and Allah is the grantor of success.