“Thus the intercession of the intercessors will be of no benefit to them. What is the matter with them that they turn away from the reminder, as though they were wild donkeys in alarm, fleeing from a lion? Rather, every one of them desires to be given unfolded scrolls. No indeed! Rather, they do not fear the Hereafter. No indeed! It is truly a reminder. So whoever wills may take heed of it. Yet they will not take heed unless Allah wills. He alone is worthy of being feared and worthy of granting forgiveness.”
“Thus the intercession of the intercessors will be of no benefit to them,” for they intercede only for those with whom He is pleased, whereas Allah is not pleased with the deeds of these people (1). After Allah had explained the fate of those who oppose the truth and warned of what (2) would be done to them, He addressed those still present with reproach and blame, saying: “What is the matter with them that they turn away from the reminder?” That is, they shun it and remain heedless of it. “As though they were,” in their intense aversion to it, “wild donkeys in alarm.” That is, they are like wild donkeys that have taken fright, each causing the others to bolt and thereby run even faster, “fleeing from a lion”—that is, from a hunter or archer pursuing them, or from a lion or the like. This is among the most extreme forms of aversion to the truth. Yet despite this rejection and aversion, they make extravagant demands.
Thus, “every one of them desires to be given unfolded scrolls” sent down to him from heaven. He claims that he will not submit to the truth unless this happens, but they are lying. Even if every sign were to come to them, they would not believe until they saw the painful punishment. Clear signs that demonstrate and elucidate the truth have already come to them. Had there been any good in them, they would have believed. Hence He said, “No indeed!”—We shall not give them what they demanded, for their only purpose was to demand the impossible. “Rather, they do not fear the Hereafter.” Had they feared it, they would not have behaved as they did.
“No indeed! It is truly a reminder.” The pronoun may refer either to this surah or to what it contains [of] this admonition. “So whoever wills may take heed of it,” for the way has been explained to him and the proof made clear.
“Yet they will not take heed unless Allah wills,” for His will (3) is universally effective and all-encompassing; no event, whether small or great, lies beyond it. This refutes the Qadariyyah, who do not place the actions of Allah’s servants under His will, as well as the Jabriyyah, who claim that the servant possesses neither any will nor any real action, but is merely compelled in all that he does. Allah Most High thus affirmed that His servants possess a real will and perform real actions, while making both subordinate to His will. “He alone is worthy of being feared and worthy of granting forgiveness.” That is, He deserves to be feared and worshipped, for He is the God whom alone it is fitting to worship; and He is worthy of forgiving whoever fears Him and follows what pleases Him. The commentary on Surah al-Muddaththir is complete, and all praise belongs to Allah (4).
Commentary on Surah al-Qiyāmah
[It is] Meccan
(1) Thus in B; in A: “Nor is He pleased with their deeds.”
(2) In B: “and explained what would be done to them.”
(3) In B: “for Allah’s will.”
(4) In B: “It is complete—to Allah belong all praise and favor.”