His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And if Allah were to hasten for the people the evil as they wish to hasten for them the good, their term would have been settled for them. So We leave those who do not expect to meet Us in their transgression, wandering blindly.﴾

﴿And when harm touches man, he calls upon Us, lying down or sitting or standing. But when We remove his harm from him, he passes by as if he had not called upon Us for a harm that touched him. Thus is made pleasing to the transgressors what they were doing.﴾

Mujahid said: "It was revealed regarding a man’s supplication for himself, his wealth, or his children, and so on. Allah, exalted and majestic is He, informed that if He were to respond to the people by answering them to the disliked, as they intend to do with Him in responding to them for the good, He would have destroyed them. Then He omitted after that from the saying a phrase that is implied by the apparent meaning, which is: and He does not do that, but He leaves those who do not hope. Thus, the saying was shortened, and this meaning was reached by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿So We leave those who do not expect to meet Us.﴾ So reflect on this implication; you will find it correct. And ﴿their hastening﴾ is an accusative as a source, and the implication is: like their hastening. It was said: the implication is: hastening like their hastening, and this is close to the first. It was said that this verse was revealed regarding His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿O Allah, if this is the truth from You, then rain upon us stones from the sky.﴾ [Al-Anfal: 32] And it was said: it was revealed regarding His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Bring us what you promise us.﴾ [Al-A'raf: 77] and what is similar to it.

The majority of the reciters read: "It would have been settled" in the form of the verb for the passive and the raising of "the term." Ibn 'Amir alone, and 'Awf, and 'Isa ibn 'Umar, and Ya'qub read: "It would have settled" in the form of the verb for the active and the accusative of "the term." Al-Amash read: "We would have settled." And the term - in this context - is the term of death. The meaning of "settled" in this verse is: completed and finished. From this is the saying of Abu Dhuaib:

؎ And upon them are two garments he completed ∗∗∗ Dawood or the maker of the coats of mail.

And Abu Ali recited in this meaning:

؎ I completed matters then departed from them ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ wafts in their folds that have not been opened.

And "settled" in this verse takes the preposition "to" when it means: finished. And "finished" takes both "to" and "for." From that is the saying of Jarir:

؎ Now I have finished to Numayr ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ so I became a punishment upon its group.

And from the other is His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿We will finish for you, O two heavy ones.﴾ [Ar-Rahman: 31] And Al-Amash read: "So We leave those who do not expect to meet Us," and "do not expect" in this context is as it is, and the intended meaning is those who do not believe in resurrection, for they do not expect to meet Allah. And hope is always accompanied by fear. And transgression is excess in a matter and exceeding the limit, and wandering blindly is stumbling in misguidance. This verse was revealed condemning a despicable trait that exists among people, who call for good and want to hasten the response, and sometimes their bad character leads them to supplicate for evil. If He had hastened for them, they would have perished.

'And His saying, the Exalted: "And when man is touched by harm"—this verse is also a reprimand for the bad character of some people. Its implication is a prohibition against such behavior and a command to submit to Allah, the Exalted, and to turn to Him in every situation. It is knowledge that good and evil come from Him, and there is no Lord other than Him. His saying, "to His side," is in the position of a state, as if He said: lying down. It is permissible for it to be a state of "man," and the operative word in it is "touched." It is also permissible for it to be a state of the pronoun of the doer in "He called us," and the operative word in it is "called," and these are two distinct meanings. And "harm" is a general term for all diseases and calamities affecting the soul, wealth, and loved ones. This is the saying of the linguists. It has been said that it is specific to bodily calamities: weakness and illness. His saying, "it passed," implies that its descent upon the disbelievers occurs, then it subsequently encompasses everyone who falls under its meaning, whether disbeliever or sinner. Thus, the meaning of the verse is: it passed in their associating partners with Allah and their lack of reliance upon Him. His saying, "beautified"—if we consider it from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, it is His creation of disbelief for them and its invention in their souls alongside their corrupt deeds and their persistence in them. And if we consider this from the devil, it means whispering and deceit. The term beautification has come in the Qur'an with these two meanings: once as an act of Allah, the Exalted, and once as an act of the devils.