﴿47-48﴾ “Respond to your Lord before there comes a Day from Allah that cannot be averted. On that Day, you will have no refuge, nor will you be able to deny anything. * But if they turn away, We have not sent you as a custodian over them. Your only duty is to convey the message. When We grant man a taste of mercy from Us, he rejoices in it; but if some misfortune befalls them because of what their own hands have wrought, then man is truly ungrateful.”
Allah Most High commands His servants to respond to Him by obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and to hasten to do so without procrastinating, before the Day of Resurrection comes. Once it arrives, it cannot be turned back, nor can missed opportunities be retrieved. On that Day, the servant will have no refuge to which he can flee, thereby eluding his Lord and escaping from Him.
Rather, the angels will have encircled all creatures from behind, and they will be called: “O company of jinn and humankind! If you can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then do so. You will not pass beyond them except with authority.” On that Day, the servant will be unable to deny the offenses and crimes he committed; indeed, even if he were to deny them, his own limbs would testify against him.
This verse and others like it condemn complacent hopes for the future and command one to seize every opportunity to perform whatever deed presents itself, for delay is fraught with perils.
“But if they turn away” from what you have brought them after it has been made perfectly clear, “We have not sent you as a custodian over them,” to keep account of their deeds and be questioned about them. “Your only duty is to convey the message.” Once you have fulfilled your duty, your reward with Allah is assured, whether they respond or turn away. Their reckoning rests with Allah, who records every one of their deeds, small or great, outward or inward.
Allah Most High then describes the human condition: when Allah grants man a taste of mercy—such as bodily health, abundant provision, status, or the like—“he rejoices in it.” That is, his joy is confined entirely to it and extends no further. As a result, he becomes complacently reliant upon it and turns away from the One who bestowed the blessing.
⦗762⦘
“But if some misfortune befalls them”—such as illness, poverty, or the like—“because of what their own hands have wrought, then man is truly ungrateful.” That is, it is his nature to deny the blessing previously bestowed upon him and to resent the misfortune that has befallen him.