“Whether We show you some of what We promise them, or cause you to die, to Us is their return. Then Allah is Witness over what they do. (46) For every community there is a messenger. When their messenger comes, judgment will be passed between them with justice, and they will not be wronged. (47) They say, ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?’ (48) Say, ‘I have no power to harm or benefit even myself, except as Allah wills. For every community there is an appointed term. When their term comes, they can neither delay it by an hour nor bring it forward.’ (49) Say, ‘Have you considered: if His punishment were to come upon you by night or by day, what part of it are the criminals seeking to hasten?’ (50)”

His saying, Exalted is He, “Whether We show you,” O Muhammad, “some of what We promise them” of punishment during your lifetime, “or cause you to die” before punishing them, “to Us is their return” in the Hereafter. “Then Allah is Witness over what they do,” and will recompense them accordingly. Here, “then” carries the meaning of “and”; that is: Allah is Witness. Mujahid said: The part that He showed him was their being killed at Badr, while the remaining kinds of punishment will come after their death.

His saying, glorified and exalted is He, “For every community there is a messenger. When their messenger comes”—and they reject him—“judgment will be passed between them with justice”: that is, they will be punished in this world and destroyed by punishment. This means that before the coming of a messenger, there is neither reward nor punishment. Mujahid and Muqatil said: When their messenger—the one sent to them—comes on the Day of Resurrection, judgment will be passed between him and them with justice. “And they will not be wronged”: they will not be punished without sin, held accountable without proof, deprived of any of their good deeds, or burdened with additional evil deeds.

“They say,” that is, the polytheists say, “When will this promise be fulfilled?”—the punishment that you, O Muhammad, promise us; and it was also said that it refers to the coming of the Hour—“if you are truthful,” you, O Muhammad, and your followers.

“Say, ‘I have no power over myself,’” that is, I am unable to do anything for myself, “‘to harm or benefit,’” meaning, to ward off harm or bring about benefit, “‘except as Allah wills’ me to possess such power. ‘For every community there is an appointed term,’” a fixed period. “When their term comes,” when the time for the end of their lives arrives, “they can neither delay it by an hour nor bring it forward”; that is, they can neither postpone it nor advance it.

His saying, Exalted is He, “Say, ‘Have you considered: if His punishment were to come upon you by night,’” at night, “‘or by day, what part of it are the criminals seeking to hasten?’” That is, what are the polytheists seeking to hasten from Allah? It was also said: What part of the punishment are the criminals seeking to hasten when they have already fallen into it? The true meaning is that they used to seek to hasten the punishment, saying: “O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring us a painful punishment” (al-Anfal, 32).

Allah, Exalted is He, then says, “What are they seeking to hasten?” That is, what (1) do the criminals know