It has been said that the repetition emphasizes that this knowledge will certainly come, as in His words: “No! They will come to know. Again, no! They will come to know.” [78:4, 5]
Others have said that this is not repetition for emphasis: the first knowledge comes when a person witnesses the realities of death as it descends, while the second comes in the grave. This is the view of al-Hasan and Muqātil, and ‘Atā’ transmitted it from Ibn ‘Abbās.
Several considerations support the correctness of this interpretation.
First: The basic principle is that a statement conveys a new meaning rather than merely emphasizing an earlier one. This interpretation allows that principle to be applied while preserving the meaning’s grandeur and majesty, without compromising eloquence.
Second: The word “then” separates the two instances of knowing, indicating a distance between the two stages in both time and gravity.
Third: This interpretation accords with reality. When the dying person witnesses what awaits him, he learns the truth about his former condition. Then, in the grave and thereafter, he knows it with a certainty surpassing his initial knowledge.
Fourth: ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, and others among the early generations understood the verse to refer to punishment in the grave.
Al-Tirmidhī said: Abū Kurayb narrated to us, saying: Hakkām ibn Salīm al-Rāzī narrated to us, from ‘Amr ibn Abī Qays, from al-Hajjāj ibn Minhāl ibn ‘Amr ibn Zirr, from ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “We remained in doubt about punishment in the grave until the revelation of: ‘Rivalry for more distracts you.’”
Al-Wāhidī said: He means that His words, “No! You will come to know,” refer to knowing in the grave.
Fifth: This accords with His subsequent words:
“You will surely see the Hellfire. Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty.”
This second sight differs from the first in two respects: the first is left unqualified, whereas the second is qualified by ‘the eye of certainty’; and the first occurs earlier, while the second follows after an interval.
He then concludes the surah with a statement reinforced by the oath-taking wāw, the emphatic lām, and the doubled emphatic nūn