(19–22) “The throes of death will come with the truth: ‘This is what you used to evade.’ * The Trumpet will be blown. That is the Day of the threatened punishment. * Every soul will come, accompanied by one to drive it and one to bear witness. * ‘You were certainly heedless of this; now We have removed your veil from you, and today your sight is keen.’”

That is, the throes of death “will come” upon this heedless person who denies Allah’s signs, “with the truth,” which cannot be repelled and from which there is no escape. “This is what you used to evade”—that is, what you sought to delay and from which you shrank back (1).

“The Trumpet will be blown. That is the Day of the threatened punishment”—that is, the Day when the wrongdoers will suffer the punishment with which Allah threatened them and the believers will receive the reward He promised them.

“Every soul will come, accompanied by one to drive it”—driving it to the place of standing on the Day of Resurrection, from which it cannot hold back—“and one to bear witness” against it concerning its deeds, both good and evil. This demonstrates Allah’s care for His servants, His preservation of their deeds, and His just recompense of them. The servant must therefore remain mindful of this matter, yet most people are heedless.

Hence He said: “You were certainly heedless of this.” On the Day of Resurrection, these words will be addressed to the one who turned away and denied the truth, by way of rebuke, blame, and severe reproach: You denied this and failed to prepare for it through your deeds. But now, “We have removed your veil from you”—the veil that covered your heart, causing you to remain deeply asleep and persist (2) in turning away—“and today your sight is keen,” beholding the various forms of torment and exemplary punishment that distress and terrify you.

Alternatively, this is Allah addressing the servant: in this world he is heedless (3) of the purpose for which he was created, but on the Day of Resurrection he will awaken and his drowsiness will leave him. Yet this will occur at a time when he can no longer make up for his former neglect or recover what he has missed. All of this is Allah’s warning to His servants and His means of instilling fear in them by mentioning what will befall those who deny the truth on that tremendous Day.