19
What this book will not say
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ
17:36
وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ ۚ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَٰئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًا
And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart — all those will be questioned.
The ayah in tafsir
A law for the tongue and the heart: do not follow what you do not know. Hearing, sight, and fuad will be asked. This chapter is the adab of ijaz ilmi. If a reading needs a stretch of the root, or a paper from last year, or a slight of the classical tafsir, we put it down.
What later eyes saw
Popular lists add speed of light in 32:5, black holes in 81:15, genetics in 80:19, and more. Some of those may one day sit more comfortably; some are wishful. Nur will not print them as “the Quran said.” Science will move. The ayah will not.
Where we stop
Silence is an act of worship when speech would be guesswork. The believer is not poorer for refusing a weak marvel.