(11) “If Allah were to hasten evil for people as they seek to hasten good, their appointed term would surely have been brought to an end. Yet We leave those who do not expect to meet Us to wander blindly in their defiance.”

This is part of His kindness and beneficence toward His servants. Were He to hasten evil for them when they pursue its causes and swiftly punish them for it, just as He hastens good for them when they pursue its causes, “their appointed term would surely have been brought to an end”—that is, the punishment would have eradicated them. But He gives them respite and does not neglect them, and He pardons many offenses against His rights. Were Allah to take people to account for their wrongdoing, He would not leave a single living creature on the face of the earth.

This also includes the case of a servant who, when angered by his children, family, or possessions, may pray against them with a supplication which, if answered, would destroy them and cause him the gravest harm. But He Most High is Forbearing and Wise.

His words, “Yet We leave those who do not expect to meet Us,” mean that they do not believe in the Hereafter. They therefore make no preparations for it and do not know what will save them from Allah’s punishment. “In their defiance” means in their falsehood, by which they have overstepped the truth and all bounds.

“To wander blindly”: they waver in bewilderment, neither finding the way nor being enabled to follow the soundest proof. This is a punishment for them (1) because of their wrongdoing and their disbelief in Allah’s signs.