Quran Surah 42, Verse 51
SAHIH INTERNATIONAL
(42:51) And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a partition or that He sends a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. Indeed, He is Most High and Wise.
IMAM AHMED RAZA KHAN
(42:51) And it is not for any human that Allah may speak to him except as a divine revelation or while the human is on this side of the veil of greatness, or that He sends an angel to reveal by His permission, whatever He wills; indeed He is Supreme, Wise.
Explanation of Quran, verse (42:51)
Every human being has the ;potential to be addressed by God. However, in order to use this potential, one has to have attained to a certain degree of spiritual and intellectual purity. The Prophets had the highest degree of this purity. God’s special speaking to the Prophets is called wahy (Revelation). Revelation occurs in three ways. One is that God suddenly puts the meaning in the Prophet’s heart and he knows that this meaning is from God. This is the first way mentioned in the verse as by Revelation.
The second way or form is that God speaks to a human being from behind a veil, as He spoke to the Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, in the Valley of Tuwā, from behind a tree; or as He did on Mount Sinai, where Moses, upon him be peace, heard God’s speech from behind a veil, the identity of which we do not know. The third way is that God sends an angel to convey His Message to the Prophet. The Qur’ān was revealed to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, in this way. The archangel Gabriel brought it to him. The Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, saw him and heard his speech.
A person can also receive God’s Message in dreams. If a Prophet receives such a message in dream, it is Revelation. An ordinary person can also have true dreams through which he or she can receive some meaning from the Almighty. Such dreams sometimes require interpretation, but sometimes are clear enough not to need an interpretation. The meanings or messages an ordinary believer receives in true dreams are called “glad heralds” according to a Prophetic Tradition (al-Bukhārī, “Ta’bīr,” 5).
We are listing these predictions for you to have complete understanding of perhaps what and when certain events could happen. Obviously only Allah SWT has this knowledge and he may give this knowledge to whom he pleases.