Surah Al-Hajj · سُوْرَةُ الْحَجِّ · Juz 17
Q 22:48
وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِىَ ظَالِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
Translations
And for how many a city did I prolong enjoyment while it was committing wrong. Then I seized it, and to Me is the [final] destination.A combien de cités n'ai-Je pas donné répit alors qu'elles commettaient des tyrannies? Ensuite, Je les ais saisies. Vers Moi est le devenir.Tafsir
How many towns are there which I gave respite to in punishment and which were oppressive due to their disbelief. I did not punish them instantly, to gradually lead them on, then I seized them by an obliterating punishment. To Me alone is their return on the Day of Judgment, then I will reward them for their disbelief with the everlasting punishment.
Read Ibn Kathir (Ibn Kathir (abridged, English))
And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not His promise. And verily a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon (47)And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the (final) return (of all)(48)
The Disbelievers Demand for the Punishment
Allah tells His Prophet ﷺ:
وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالْعَذَابِ
(And they ask you to hasten on the torment!) meaning, these disbelievers who disbelieve in Allah and His Book and His Messenger ﷺ and the Last Day. This is like the Ayat:
وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَٰذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
(And (remember) when they said: "O Allah! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky or bring on us a painful torment.")(8:32)
وَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا عَجِّل لَّنَا قِطَّنَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ
(They say: "Our Lord! Hasten to us Qittana (our punishment) before the Day of Reckoning!")(38:16).
وَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ
(And Allah fails not His promise.) means, His promise to bring about the Hour and wreak vengeance upon His enemies, and to honor His close friends.
وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ
(And verily a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon.) means, He does not hasten, for what is counted as a thousand years with His creation is as one day with Him, and He knows that He is able to exact revenge and that He will not miss a thing, even if He delays and waits and postpones. Hence He then says:
وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ
(And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the (final) return (of all).) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
يَدْخُلُ فُقَرَاءُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ الْجَنَّةَ قَبْلَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ بِنِصْفِ يَوْمٍ خَمْسِمِائَةِ عَامٍ
(The poor among the Muslims will enter Paradise half a day before the rich – five hundred years.) This was recorded by At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i from the Hadith of Ath-Thawri from Muhammad bin 'Amr. At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih."
Abu Dawud recorded at the end of Book of Al-Malahim in his Sunan from Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas that the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنِّي لَأَرْجُو أَنْ لَا تَعْجِزَ أُمَّتِي عِنْدَ رَبِّهَا أَنْ يُؤَخِّرَهُمْ نِصْفَ يَوْمٍ
(I hope that it will not be too much for my Ummah if Allah delays them for half a day.) It was said to Sa'd, "What does half a day mean?" He said, "Five hundred years."
Arabic text: Tanzil (Uthmani). Translations: Sahih International (en), Muhammad Hamidullah (fr). tanzil.net