And the evil consequences of what they earned will become apparent to them, and that which they used to ridicule will engulf them. (48)

When adversity touches a person, he calls upon Us. Then, when We bestow upon him a favour from Us, he says, “I have only been given it because of knowledge.” Rather, it is a trial, but most of them do not know. (49)

Those before them had already said the same, but what they used to earn did not avail them. (50)

Allah’s saying: “If those who have wronged had everything on earth, and the like of it with it, they would surely offer it as ransom to escape the terrible punishment on the Day of Resurrection. There will appear to them from Allah that which they had never imagined.” Muqatil said: “When they are resurrected, there will become apparent to them that which they had not expected in this world to befall them in the Hereafter.”

Al-Suddi said: “They thought that they were good deeds, but they became apparent to them as evil deeds.” The meaning is that they sought to draw near to Allah through the worship of idols; then, when they were punished for this, there became apparent to them from Allah that which they had never expected. It is related that Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir became greatly distressed at the time of his death. When he was asked about this, he said, “I fear that there may become apparent to me that which I did not expect.” (1)

“And the evil consequences of what they earned will become apparent to them”: that is, the wickedness of their deeds, including polytheism and wrongdoing against the allies of Allah. “And that which they used to ridicule will engulf them.”

“When adversity touches a person”: that is, hardship; “he calls upon Us. Then, when We bestow upon him”: that is, grant him “a favour from Us, he says, ‘I have only been given it because of knowledge’”: that is, because Allah knows that I deserve it. Muqatil said: “Because of some goodness which Allah knows to be in me.” The feminine pronoun is used because what is meant by the favour is the act of bestowal. “Rather, it is a trial”—that is, this favour is a trial (2), a gradual enticement toward punishment from Allah Most High, as well as a test and an affliction. It was also said: rather, the statement that he made is itself a trial. “But most of them do not know”: that it is a gradual enticement and a test.

“Those before them had already said the same.” Muqatil said: This refers to Korah, for he said, “I have only been given it because of knowledge I possess.” (Quran 28:78) “But what they used to earn did not avail them”: that is, their disbelief did not protect them from the punishment in the least.