Explanation of the author's statement and his saying: (There is no private conversation of three people but He is the fourth of them, nor five but He is the sixth of them, nor fewer than that nor more but He is with them wherever they are)

The Shaykh : Then he said: In the second verse: to the end of it.
This verse says This is a complete verb, meaning that it exists. And his saying: It is said that this is from the category of attributing a description to the described, and its original form is "a private conversation of three." And the meaning of is those who are whispering to each other. And his saying: "three but He is the fourth of them," and he did not say "but He is the third of them." Why? Because He is of a different kind. If He is of a different kind, the next number is used. But if He is of the same kind, the same number is used. Look at His saying: and He did not say "the third of two." Why? Because He is of the same kind, according to their claim, according to the claim of the Christians, that all three are gods. Since He is of the same kind according to their claim, it was said of Him "the third of three." In the story of the People of the Cave,
The student: The fourth of them.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: The fourth of them.

The Shaykh : He did not say "the fourth of them is their dog." Why?
The student: He is not of their kind.

The Shaykh : Because the dog is not one of them. Is that clear, everyone?
And He did not say "but He is the third of them." Why?
The student: He is not one of them.

The Shaykh : Because He is not of their kind. So this is the Creator, and the whisperers are created beings.
Nor five but He is the sixth of them. He mentioned the odd numbers three and five and was silent about the even numbers. See, this generalizes it again. And what is fewer than three?
The student: Two
The student: One

The Shaykh : No, three is fewer than two, because one person cannot whisper. The minimum is two. More than six or five.
The student: Five.

The Shaykh : Five, yes. And not more than five. Okay, does "nor fewer than that" include four? Yes, because it is fewer than five. Okay. Is this presence general or specific?
The student: general

The Shaykh : It is general because it includes everyone, the believer and the disbeliever, the righteous and the sinner. Its implication is encompassing them with knowledge, power, hearing, sight, authority, management, and other meanings of His Lordship. Then he said: This is the conclusion, meaning this presence necessitates accounting for what they did. So when the Day of Resurrection comes, He will inform them of what they did, meaning He will tell them about it and hold them accountable for it. Is that right? Yes, because the intended meaning of informing includes its necessary consequence.
The student: The accounting.

The Shaykh : And that is the accounting. Yes, but if they are believers, then Allah the Exalted will count their deeds and then say: He the Exalted says: Every thing, whether existing or non-existent, permissible or obligatory, or impossible, every thing, Allah is All-Knowing of it. And it has preceded us in the discussion of the attribute of knowledge that the knowledge of Allah relates to
The student: Every thing.

The Shaykh : Yes, to every thing, even the obligatory and the impossible, the small and the large. Okay. And his saying: This is a verse mentioning the migration of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: They drove him out of his safe city. See, He supported him. At the time of the expulsion. ... Two, meaning at the time of the exit and at the time of staying in the cave. Third, at the time of the hardship when the polytheists stood at the mouth of the cave. So these are three, three places where Allah the Exalted mentioned His support for His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The first:
The student: His expulsion.

The Shaykh : At the time of the expulsion of the disbelievers from him. The second: At the time of staying in the cave, and this second one descended. And the third: When the polytheists stood over them. Abu Bakr said, "O Messenger of Allah, if one of them looked at his foot, he would see us," meaning we are in danger. Like the companions of Moses when they reached the sea: This one said: And this one said:
The student: Indeed, Allah is with us.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is more eloquent than the story of Moses, because Moses did not say "Do not grieve," but he said And this one said: So he reassured him and put security in his heart, and he attributed that to his saying: And his saying here: Is the intended meaning "Do not fear" or "Do not grieve over what happened"? It can have two meanings. Either the meaning is meaning: Do not fear for the future, or do not grieve over what happened, for we are the victors.
And this presence is specific and restricted.
The student: To a person.

The Shaykh : To a person, to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr. This presence necessitates, along with the encompassing which is the general presence, what?
The student: Support.

The Shaykh : Support and assistance. Support and assistance. And for this reason, they stood at the cave and said, "There is no one there." Allah blinded their insights. Allah blinded their eyes. Allah blinded their eyes. Yes. As for the saying of those who said that the spider wove over the cave and the pigeon landed on the door of the cave when they came, when the polytheists came and there was a pigeon and a spider's nest on the cave, they said, "There is no one there," and they left. This is false. This is false without a doubt. The wonderful divine protection is that the cave was open and clear, with no physical barrier, and yet they did not see them. This is the miracle. As for a pigeon coming and a spider nesting, that is far-fetched and contrary to the apparent hadith which says, "If one of them looked at his foot, he would see us." This means they were standing at the door. If they were standing at the door, where would the pigeon go?
The student: It would fly away.

The Shaykh : It would fly away, so it would not remain. So the important thing is that some historians, may Allah forgive us and them, bring up strange, anomalous, and denigrated things that the mind does not accept, let alone the transmitted reports.