'And warn' means, O Muhammad, 'the people' all of them, of what will befall them 'on the Day when the punishment comes to them' and the veil will be lifted from them by death or resurrection. And since they, at the time of the punishment coming before death, do not completely break down, it is clarified that they are then in a different state. So He said, adding to 'it comes to them': 'Then those who wronged will say' meaning they have brought forth this description even if in the slightest way from them and others due to the coming of it without delay. And what they used to boast of has been removed from them, such as arrogance, pride, haughtiness, and conceit, because of what they saw of the terrors that they have no capacity for and no patience to endure: 'Our Lord' meaning, O You who are gracious to us in character, provision, and upbringing, 'delay us' meaning grant us respite 'to a near term' for if You delay us to it 'we will respond to Your call' meaning to make up for what we have neglected in it; and the response is the agreement with the caller by will. 'And we will follow' meaning with utmost desire 'the messengers.' It will be said to them: 'Indeed, the decree of Allah, when it comes, is not delayed. Did you not use to say: Indeed, the bonds of your patience do not break, and the limits of your resolutions do not falter?' 'Did you not used to' meaning in a state where you were in the utmost ability 'swear' meaning in ignorance and folly or in arrogance and excess? And since the time of their swearing was not extensive, He said: 'Previously' and clarified the answer to what they swore by saying - narrating the meaning of their words, not their wording - so that it may be clear in the intended meaning without any possibility of stubbornness if it were said: 'What is with you?' 'What is with you?' And He emphasized the negation by saying: 'of removal' from what you are upon of disbelief and refusal to submit to faith, or from this world to the Hereafter, or from your abodes in which you are, as a metaphor for the stability of the matter and the indifference to the opposer, whoever he may be.