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Ayah
Word by Word
وَأَنذِرِ
And warn
ٱلنَّاسَ
the mankind
يَوۡمَ
(of) a Day
يَأۡتِيهِمُ
(when) will come to them
ٱلۡعَذَابُ
the punishment
فَيَقُولُ
then will say
ٱلَّذِينَ
those who
ظَلَمُواْ
did wrong
رَبَّنَآ
Our Lord
أَخِّرۡنَآ
Respite us
إِلَىٰٓ
for
أَجَلٖ
a term
قَرِيبٖ
short
نُّجِبۡ
we will answer
دَعۡوَتَكَ
Your call
وَنَتَّبِعِ
and we will follow
ٱلرُّسُلَۗ
the Messengers
أَوَلَمۡ
Had not
تَكُونُوٓاْ
you
أَقۡسَمۡتُم
sworn
مِّن
before
قَبۡلُ
before
مَا
not
لَكُم
for you
مِّن
any
زَوَالٖ
end
وَأَنذِرِ
And warn
ٱلنَّاسَ
the mankind
يَوۡمَ
(of) a Day
يَأۡتِيهِمُ
(when) will come to them
ٱلۡعَذَابُ
the punishment
فَيَقُولُ
then will say
ٱلَّذِينَ
those who
ظَلَمُواْ
did wrong
رَبَّنَآ
Our Lord
أَخِّرۡنَآ
Respite us
إِلَىٰٓ
for
أَجَلٖ
a term
قَرِيبٖ
short
نُّجِبۡ
we will answer
دَعۡوَتَكَ
Your call
وَنَتَّبِعِ
and we will follow
ٱلرُّسُلَۗ
the Messengers
أَوَلَمۡ
Had not
تَكُونُوٓاْ
you
أَقۡسَمۡتُم
sworn
مِّن
before
قَبۡلُ
before
مَا
not
لَكُم
for you
مِّن
any
زَوَالٖ
end
Translation
And, [O Muḥammad], warn the people of a Day when the punishment will come to them and those who did wrong will say, "Our Lord, delay us for a short term; we will answer Your call and follow the messengers." [But it will be said], "Had you not sworn, before, that for you there would be no cessation?1
Footnotes
1 - Of the blessings which Allāh had bestowed upon you during life on earth.
Tafsir
And warn, make [them] have fear, O Muhammad may peace and salutation be upon him, mankind, the disbelievers, of the day when chastisement will come upon them, namely, the Day of Resurrection, and those who did evil, who disbelieved, will say, 'Our Lord, give us respite, by returning us to the world, for a brief while, that we might respond to Your call, by affirming [Your] Oneness, and follow the messengers'. It is then said to them in rebuke: 'But did you not use to swear formerly, in the world, that for you there would be no passing [away]? (min zawaalin: min is extra) from this [world] to the Hereafter?
"There will be no Respite after the Coming of the Torment
Allah said next to His Messenger,
وَأَنذِرِ النَّاسَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمُ الْعَذَابُ فَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ
And warn mankind of the Day when the torment will come unto them; then the wrongdoers will say:
Allah mentions what those who committed injustice against themselves will say when they witness the torment,
رَبَّنَا أَخِّرْنَا إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ نُّجِبْ دَعْوَتَكَ وَنَتَّبِعِ الرُّسُلَ
Our Lord! Respite us for a little while, we will answer Your call and follow the Messengers!
Allah said in other Ayat,
حَتَّى إِذَا جَأءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ
Until, when death comes to one of them, he says:""My Lord! Send me back."" (23:99)
and,
يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاأَ تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَلُكُمْ
O you who believe! Let not your properties divert you. (63:9-10)
Allah described the condition of the wrongdoers on the Day of Gathering, when He said,
وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُواْ رُءُوسِهِمْ
And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads. (32:12)
وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُواْ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواْ يلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا
If you could but see when they will be held over the Fire! They will say:""Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat of Our Lord. ..""! (6:27)
and,
وَهُمْ يَصْطَرِخُونَ فِيهَا
Therein they will cry. (35:27)
Allah refuted their statement here,
أَوَلَمْ تَكُونُواْ أَقْسَمْتُم مِّن قَبْلُ مَا لَكُم مِّن زَوَالٍ
Had you not sworn aforetime that you would not leave.)
Allah says, `Had you not vowed before, that your previous state will not change, that there will be no Resurrection or Reckoning! Therefore, taste this torment because of what you vowed before.'
Mujahid commented that,
مَا لَكُم مِّن زَوَالٍ
(that you would not leave),
refers to leaving this worldly life to the Hereafter.
Allah also said,
وَأَقْسَمُواْ بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَـنِهِمْ لَا يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَن يَمُوتُ
And they swear by Allah with their strongest oaths, that Allah will not raise up him who dies. (16:38)
Allah said next,
وَسَكَنتُمْ فِي مَسَـاكِنِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ كَيْفَ فَعَلْنَا بِهِمْ وَضَرَبْنَا لَكُمُ الَامْثَالَ
And you dwelt in the dwellings of men who wronged themselves, and it was clear to you how We had dealt with them. And We put forth (many) parables for you.
Allah says, `you have witnessed or heard of the news of what happened to the earlier disbelieving nations, but you did not draw a lesson from their end, nor did what We punished them with provide an example for you,'
حِكْمَةٌ بَـلِغَةٌ فَمَا تُغْنِـى النُّذُرُ
Perfect wisdom but the warners benefit then not. (54:5)
وَقَدْ مَكَرُواْ مَكْرَهُمْ وَعِندَ اللّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
Indeed, they planned their plot, and their plot was with Allah, though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places.
Shu`bah narrated that Abu Ishaq said that Abdur-Rahman bin Dabil said that Ali bin Abi Talib commented on Allah's statement,
وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places),
""He who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, took two eaglets and raised them until they became adult eagles. Then he tied each eagle's leg to a wooden box with ropes and left them go hungry. He and another man sat inside the wooden box and raised a staff with a piece of meat on its tip. So, the two eagles started flying. The king asked his companion to tell him what he was seeing, and he described the scenes to him, until he said that he ﷺ the earth as a fly. So, the king brought the staff closer to the eagles and they started landing slowly. This is why Allah said,
وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
`though their plot was hardly one to remove the mountains from their places.""'
Mujahid also mentioned that;
this story was about Nebuchadnezzar, and that when the king's sight was far away from earth and its people, he was called, `O tyrant one! Where are you headed to!' He became afraid and brought the staff closer to the eagles, which flew faster with such haste that the mountains almost shook from the noise they made. The mountains were almost moved from their places, so Allah said,
وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places).""
Ibn Jurayj narrated that Mujahid recited this Ayah in a way that means,
""though their plot was such as to remove the mountains from their places.""
However, Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said that,
وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places),
indicates that their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places.
Similar was said by Al-Hasan Al-Basri.
Ibn Jarir reasoned that,
""Associating others with Allah and disbelieving in Him, which they brought upon themselves, did not bother the mountains nor other creatures. Rather, the harm of their actions came to haunt them.""
I (Ibn Kathir) said, this meaning is similar to Allah's statement,
وَلَا تَمْشِ فِى الاٌّرْضِ مَرَحًا إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ الاٌّرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ الْجِبَالَ طُولاً
And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can neither rend nor penetrate the earth, nor can you attain a stature like the mountains in height. (17:37)
There is another way of explaining this Ayah;
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said that,
وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their places),
refers to their Shirk, for Allah said in another Ayah,
تَكَادُ السَّمَـوَتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ
Whereby the heavens are almost torn. (19:90)
Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah said similarly."
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