That is, We did not send the messengers in vain, nor so that people might take them as lords, nor so that they might call people to themselves. Rather, We sent them to call people to every good and forbid every evil, promising them an immediate and deferred reward for complying, and warning them of an immediate and deferred punishment for disobeying. Allah’s proof was thereby established against His servants. Despite this, the wrongdoing disbelievers insist on disputing with falsehood so as to refute the truth. They strive as much as they can to support falsehood and to refute and invalidate the truth. They mock Allah’s messengers and His signs and exult in the knowledge they possess. Yet Allah wills to perfect His light, though the disbelievers detest it, and to make the truth prevail over falsehood: “Rather, We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crushes it; thereupon it vanishes.” Out of Allah’s wisdom and mercy, His bringing forth proponents of falsehood who dispute the truth with falsehood is among the greatest means by which the truth is clarified, its supporting evidence and proofs are made manifest, and falsehood and its corruption are exposed. For things become clear through their opposites.
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(57-59) “And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the signs of his Lord, but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead? Indeed, We have placed coverings over their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Even if you call them to guidance, they will never then be guided. * Your Lord is the All-Forgiving, Possessor of mercy. If He were to take them to task for what they have earned, He would hasten the punishment for them. Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no refuge. * Those towns—We destroyed them when they acted unjustly, and We appointed a time for their destruction.”
Allah, Exalted is He, informs us that no one is more unjust or guilty of a greater crime than a servant who is reminded of Allah’s signs; the truth and falsehood, and guidance and misguidance, are made clear to him; and he is warned and admonished, yet also given hope—but he turns away from them. He takes no heed of what he was reminded of, does not turn back from his former ways, forgets the sins his hands have sent ahead, and shows no watchfulness before the All-Knower of the unseen. Such a person is more unjust than one who turns away without Allah’s signs ever having come to him or having been reminded by them. Although the latter is unjust, he is less (1) unjust than the former, because one who sins with clear understanding and knowledge is worse than one who does not.
Allah, however, punished him for turning away from His signs, forgetting his sins, and willingly remaining in an evil state despite knowing it, by closing to him the doors of guidance. He placed coverings upon his heart—that is, firmly sealed coverings that prevent him from understanding the signs even when he hears them. He is therefore incapable of attaining the understanding that reaches the heart. “And heaviness in their ears”—that is, deafness that prevents the signs from reaching them or from being heard in a way that benefits them. When their condition is such, no path to guidance remains for them. “Even if you call them to guidance, they will never then be guided.” The one from whom a response to the call of guidance may be hoped is someone who does not yet know. As for these people, they first saw and then became blind; they saw the path of truth but abandoned it, and they saw the path of misguidance and followed it. Allah punished them by locking and sealing their hearts, so there is no means or path by which they may be guided. This verse contains the gravest warning and deterrent for anyone who abandons the truth after knowing it: a barrier may be placed between him and the truth, leaving him unable to attain it thereafter.
Allah, Exalted is He, then tells us of the vastness of His forgiveness and mercy: He forgives sins and turns in mercy toward whoever repents, enveloping him in His mercy and encompassing him with His benevolence. If Allah were to take (2) His servants to task for the sins their hands have sent ahead, He would hasten the punishment for them. Yet He is Forbearing and does not hasten punishment; rather, He grants respite but does not neglect. The consequences of sins must inevitably come to pass, even if they are delayed for a long time. He therefore says:
“Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no refuge.”
That is, they have an appointed time at which they will be recompensed for their deeds. They must inevitably face it, with no escape, refuge, or way of avoiding it. This is His way with former and later peoples: He does not hasten their punishment, but calls them to repentance and to turn back to Him. If they repent and turn back, He forgives them, has mercy upon them, and removes the punishment from them. Otherwise, if they persist in their injustice and obstinacy, and the time He appointed for them arrives, He inflicts His punishment upon them. He therefore says: “Those towns—We destroyed them when they acted unjustly,” meaning because of their injustice, not because of any injustice on Our part. “And We appointed a time for their destruction,” meaning a predetermined time that they could neither advance nor delay.