Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (541)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(47–48) “They ask you to hasten the punishment, but Allah will never fail in His promise. Indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years by your reckoning. How many a town steeped in wrongdoing did I grant respite, then seize! And to Me is the final return.”

That is, these deniers ask you to hasten the punishment because of their ignorance, wrongdoing, and obstinacy, in an attempt to defy Allah and deny His messengers. Allah will never fail in His promise. The punishment He has promised them must inevitably befall them, and nothing can protect them from it. As for hastening and promptly inflicting it, that is not for you to decide, O Muhammad. Do not let their demands for haste and their challenge to Us unsettle you. Ahead of them lies the Day of Resurrection, when the first and last of them will be gathered together, recompensed for their deeds, and afflicted with lasting, painful punishment. Thus, He says: “Indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years by your reckoning,” because of its length, severity, and terror. Whether punishment afflicts them in this world or is deferred, that Day must inevitably overtake them.

It may also mean that Allah is Forbearing: even though they ask for the punishment to be hastened, a day with Him is like a thousand years by your reckoning. However long you may consider the period and however slow you may deem the punishment in coming, Allah grants respite for lengthy periods but never neglects. Then, when He seizes the wrongdoers with His punishment, they cannot escape Him.

“How many a town did I grant respite”—that is, I gave it a long reprieve—“while it was steeped in wrongdoing”—that is, despite its people’s wrongdoing. Their prompt resort to wrongdoing did not require Us promptly to punish them. “Then I seized it” with punishment, “and to Me is the final return”—that is, in addition to its punishment in this world, its people will return to Allah, and He will punish them for their sins. Let these wrongdoers therefore beware lest Allah’s punishment descend upon them, and let them not be deceived by the respite granted to them.

﴿٤٧ - ٤٨﴾ ﴿وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالْعَذَابِ وَلَنْ يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ * وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ﴾ . أي: يستعجلك هؤلاء المكذبون بالعذاب، لجهلهم، وظلمهم، وعنادهم، وتعجيزا لله، وتكذيبا لرسله، ولن يخلف الله وعده، فما وعدهم به من العذاب، لا بد من وقوعه، ولا يمنعهم منه مانع، وأما عجلته، والمبادرة فيه، فليس ذلك إليك يا محمد، ولا يستفزنك عجلتهم وتعجيزهم إيانا. فإن أمامهم يوم القيامة، الذي يجمع فيه أولهم وآخرهم، ويجازون بأعمالهم، ويقع بهم العذاب الدائم الأليم، ولهذا قال: ﴿وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ﴾ من طوله، وشدته، وهو له، فسواء أصابهم عذاب في الدنيا، أم تأخر عنهم العذاب، فإن هذا اليوم، لا بد أن يدركهم. ويحتمل أن المراد: أن الله حليم، ولو استعجلوا العذاب، فإن يوما عنده كألف سنة مما تعدون، فالمدة، وإن تطاولتموها، واستبطأتم فيها نزول العذاب، فإن الله يمهل المدد الطويلة ولا يهمل، حتى إذا أخذ الظالمين بعذابه لم يفلتهم. ﴿وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا﴾ أي: أمهلتها مدة طويلة ﴿وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ﴾ أي: مع ظلمهم، فلم يكن مبادرتهم بالظلم، موجبا لمبادرتنا بالعقوبة، ﴿ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا﴾ بالعذاب ﴿وَإِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ﴾ أي: مع عذابها في الدنيا، سترجع إلى الله، فيعذبها بذنوبها، فليحذر هؤلاء الظالمون من حلول عقاب الله، ولا يغتروا بالإمهال.