Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِذَا
And when
قِيلَ
it is said
لَهُمُ
to them
ٱتَّقُواْ
Fear
مَا
what
بَيۡنَ
(is) before you
أَيۡدِيكُمۡ
(is) before you
وَمَا
and what
خَلۡفَكُمۡ
(is) behind you
لَعَلَّكُمۡ
so that you may
تُرۡحَمُونَ
receive mercy
وَإِذَا
And when
قِيلَ
it is said
لَهُمُ
to them
ٱتَّقُواْ
Fear
مَا
what
بَيۡنَ
(is) before you
أَيۡدِيكُمۡ
(is) before you
وَمَا
and what
خَلۡفَكُمۡ
(is) behind you
لَعَلَّكُمۡ
so that you may
تُرۡحَمُونَ
receive mercy
Translation
When they are told, "Fear ye that which is before you and that which will be after you, in order that ye may receive Mercy," (they turn back).
Tafsir
And when it is said to them, 'Beware of that which is before you, of the chastisement of this world, as [it is said] to others, and that which is behind you, of the chastisement of the Hereafter, that perhaps you might find mercy', they turn away [in aversion].
The Misguidance of the Idolators
Allah tells us how the idolators persisted in their misguidance and in not paying attention to the sins that they had committed in the past or what was to happen to them in the future, on the Day of Resurrection.
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّقُوا مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيكُمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَكُمۡ
And when it is said to them:Fear of that which is before you, and that which is behind you...
Mujahid said,
This refers to sins.
Others said, it is the opposite.
لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُرۡحَمُونَ
in order that you may receive mercy.
means, `so that, if you fear such things Allah will have mercy on you and will save you from His punishment.'
The wording implies that they would not respond. Rather that they would turn away and ignore that, as Allah says
وَمَا تَأۡتِيهِم مِّنۡ ايَةٍ مِّنۡ ايَاتِ رَبِّهِمۡ
And never came an Ayah from among the Ayat of their Lord to them,
meaning, signs of Tawhid and the truth of the Messengers,
إِلاَّ كَانُوا عَنۡهَا مُعۡرِضِينَ
but they did turn away from it,
means, they did not accept it or benefit from it
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمۡ أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمۡ اللَّهُ
And when it is said to them:Spend of that with which Allah has provided you,
means, when they are told to spend of that which Allah has provided to them on the poor and needy among the Muslims,
قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ امَنُوا
those who disbelieve say to those who believe,
means, about the believers who are poor,
i.e., they say to those believers who tell them to spend on the needy,
أَنُطۡعِمُ مَن لَّوۡ يَشَاء اللَّهُ أَطۡعَمَهُ
Shall we feed those whom, if Allah willed, He (Himself) would have fed,
meaning, `those whom you are telling us to spend on, if Allah had wanted to, He would have made them independent and fed them from His provision, so we are in accordance with the will of Allah with regard to them.
إِنۡ أَنتُمۡ إِلاَّ فِي ضَلَلٍ مُّبِينٍ
You are only in a plain error.
means, `by telling us to do that.
The Disbelievers thought that the Day of Resurrection would never come to pass
Allah tells,
وَيَقُولُونَ
And they say:
Allah tells us how the disbelievers thought that the Day of Resurrection would never come to pass, as they said:
مَتَى هَذَا الۡوَعۡدُ
When will this promise be fulfilled...
يَسۡتَعۡجِلُ بِهَا الَّذِينَ لَا يُوۡمِنُونَ بِهَا
Those who believe not therein seek to hasten it. (42:18)
إِن كُنتُمۡ صَادِقِينَ
if you are truthful.
Allah says:
مَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ صَيۡحَةً وَاحِدَةً تَأۡخُذُهُمۡ وَهُمۡ يَخِصِّمُونَ
They await only but a single Sayhah which will seize them while they are disputing!
meaning, they are only waiting for a single shout which -- and Allah knows best -- will be the trumpet blast of terror when the Trumpet will be blown while the people are in their marketplaces and places of work, arguing and disputing as they usually do. While in this state, Allah will command Israfil to blow into the Trumpet, so he will sound a long note and there will be no one left on the face of the earth except he will tilt his head to listen to the sound coming from heaven. Then the people who are alive will be driven to the gathering place by a fire which will surround them on all sides.
Allah says
فَلَ يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ تَوۡصِيَةً
Then they will not be able to make bequest,
meaning, with regard to their possessions, because the matter is more serious than that,
وَلَا إِلَى أَهۡلِهِمۡ يَرۡجِعُونَ
nor they will return to their family.
Numerous Hadiths and reports have been narrated about this, which we have mentioned elsewhere. After this there will be the Trumpet blast which will cause everyone who is alive to die, besides the One Who is Ever Living, Eternal. Then after that the trumpet blast of the resurrection will be sounded.
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