“If Allah were to take people to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave a single living creature upon it. But He defers them until an appointed term. Then, when their term comes, they can neither delay it by a moment nor bring it forward. (61) They assign to Allah what they themselves dislike, while their tongues assert the lie that the best reward will be theirs. Without doubt, the Fire will be theirs. (62)”

“If Allah were to take people to task for their wrongdoing,” and thus hasten their punishment for their disbelief and disobedience, “He would not leave a single living creature upon it”—that is, upon the earth; the pronoun refers to something unstated—“a single living creature.”

Qatādah said concerning this verse: “Allah did indeed do this in the time of Noah, peace be upon him: He destroyed those upon the earth, except those who were in Noah’s Ark.” (1)

It is narrated that Abu Hurayrah heard a man say, “The wrongdoer harms no one but himself.” He replied, “What an evil thing you have said! The bustard dies in its nest because of the wrongdoing of the wrongdoer.” (2)

Ibn Masʿūd said: “Even the dung beetle is punished in its burrow because of the sin of the son of Adam.” (3)

It was also said that the meaning of the verse is: If Allah were to take the fathers of wrongdoers to task for their wrongdoing, their progeny would come to an end and no children would exist; thus no one would remain on earth.

“But He defers them until an appointed term”: He grants them respite, out of His forbearance, until a fixed term—the end of their appointed lifespans and the cessation of their lives. “Then, when their term comes, they can neither delay it by a moment nor bring it forward.”

Allah’s words, “They assign to Allah what they themselves dislike,” mean daughters. “While their tongues assert”—that is, say—“the lie that the best reward will be theirs,” meaning sons. The grammatical position of the clause “that the best reward will be theirs” is accusative, as an appositive substitute for “the lie.”

Yamān said that “the best reward” means Paradise in the Hereafter—if Muhammad is truthful concerning the resurrection.

“Without doubt” means: truly. Ibn ʿAbbās said: “Indeed, the Fire will be theirs in the Hereafter, and they will be abandoned therein.” Nāfiʿ read the latter word with the rāʾ vowelled with kasrah, meaning: those who go to excess.

Abu Jaʿfar read it with a doubled rāʾ and kasrah, meaning: those who neglect Allah’s command.

The others read it with a fathah on the rāʾ and without doubling it, meaning: those forgotten in the Fire. This was stated by Ibn ʿAbbās.