(3–5) “Those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour will never come upon us.’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, it will surely come upon you. He is the Knower of the unseen. Not even an atom’s weight in the heavens or on earth escapes Him, nor anything smaller or greater than that, but it is recorded in a clear Record, so that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds. They will have forgiveness and a generous provision. But those who strive against Our signs, seeking to thwart them, will have a punishment of agonizing torment.’”
After Allah Most High had demonstrated His greatness through the attributes by which He described Himself—which calls for glorifying and sanctifying Him and believing in Him—He mentioned that among mankind is a group who do not esteem their Lord as He deserves, nor glorify Him as He ought to be glorified. Instead, they disbelieve in Him, deny His power to restore the dead and bring about the Hour, and oppose His messengers on that basis. He therefore says: “Those who disbelieve”—in Allah, His messengers, and what they brought. Their disbelief led them to say: “The Hour will never come upon us.” That is, there is nothing but this worldly life: we die and we live. ⦗675⦘ Allah therefore commanded His Messenger to refute and invalidate their claim and to swear that the resurrection will indeed come upon them. As evidence for this, He cited a fact which, once acknowledged, necessarily requires one to affirm the resurrection: His vast and universal knowledge. He says: “The Knower of the unseen,” meaning all matters hidden from our sight and knowledge—so how much more does He know what is manifest!
He then emphasized the comprehensiveness of His knowledge, saying: “Not even an atom’s weight in the heavens or on earth escapes Him.” That is, He knows all things in their entirety and in every one of their parts, even their smallest conceivable parts and weights.
“Nor anything smaller or greater than that, but it is recorded in a clear Record.” That is, His knowledge encompasses it, His Pen has recorded it, and it is contained in the clear Record, namely the Preserved Tablet. The One from whose knowledge not even an atom’s weight—or anything smaller—remains hidden at any time, and who knows (1) what the earth consumes of the dead and what remains of their bodies, is all the more capable of resurrecting them. Their resurrection is no more wondrous than this all-encompassing knowledge.
He then mentions the purpose of the resurrection: “So that He may reward those who believe”—in their hearts, firmly affirming the truth of Allah and His messengers—“and do righteous deeds,” thereby confirming their faith. “They will have forgiveness” for their sins because of their faith and deeds, through which every evil and punishment will be averted from them; “and a generous provision” on account of the good they did, through which they will obtain everything they seek, desire, and wish for.
“But those who strive against Our signs, seeking to thwart them”—that is, they strive against them by disbelieving in them and by seeking to prove incapable both the one who brought them and the One who revealed them, just as they deemed Him incapable of restoring the dead to life. “They will have a punishment of agonizing torment”—that is, one that will cause pain to both their bodies and their hearts.