—and He, exalted be He, says further: “…before the punishment comes upon you and then you will not be helped.” Once the annihilating, all-consuming punishment descends, the repentance of those who try to repent at that moment is no longer accepted—apart from the exceptional case of “the people of Yunus: when they believed, We lifted from them the humiliating punishment” (Yunus 10:98). Outside that single exception, repentance is rejected once the destroying punishment has arrived; hence the divine warning: “…before the punishment comes upon you and then you will not be helped.” Repentance and inaba have an appointed deadline and a fixed limit. The repentance of someone in the death-rattle (when the soul reaches the throat), of a person already overtaken by the annihilating punishment, or of people after the sun rises from the west before the Day of Resurrection is not accepted. For this reason Allah urges His servant to repent and turn back before his term expires: “…before the punishment comes upon you and then you will not be helped.” The phrase “Turn back to your Lord” itself shows that inaba is a form of worship, for directing it “to your Lord” proves that it is an act of devotion reserved exclusively for Him.