His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves. So their gods, which they invoke besides Allah, availed them nothing when the command of your Lord came, and they did not increase them except in ruin." "And thus is the seizure of your Lord when He seizes the cities while they are wrongdoers. Indeed, His seizure is painful and severe." "Indeed, in that is a sign for whoever fears the punishment of the Hereafter. That is a Day for which the people will be gathered, and that is a Day witnessed." "And We do not delay it except for a specified term." "The Day it comes, no soul will speak except by His permission. So among them will be wretched and happy." The meaning is: We did not impose upon them a punishment that they do not deserve, but they wronged themselves by placing disbelief in the position of faith and worshiping idols instead of Allah. So those idols did not benefit them nor did they protect them when the punishment of Allah came. And 'ruin' means loss, and from it is the saying: "Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he!" And from it is the saying of Jarir: "A remnant of the people of Lot, may they perish for what they did!" Meaning: loss. And the concept of the increase of idols being ruin can be understood in two ways: either by their reliance on them and trusting in them, and their exertion in worshiping them occupied their souls and diverted them from contemplating the Law, leading to hardship and loss, or that their punishment for disbelief is increased by the punishment for merely worshiping idols. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And thus" refers to what has been mentioned of the events in the nations. And this is a verse of warning that encompasses the cities of the believers; for "wrongdoers" is broader than "disbelievers." And Allah, blessed and exalted, may delay some of the disbelievers, but the wrongdoers are generally hastened. However, it is said that He gives respite to some of them. And in the hadith, narrated by Abu Musa, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, Allah gives respite to the wrongdoer until when He seizes him, he does not escape." Then he recited: "And thus is the seizure of your Lord when He seizes the cities while they are wrongdoers." And Abu Rajaa al-Attaridi and Asim al-Jahdari read: "Your Lord when He seized the cities," and the majority read: "when He seizes the cities." And al-Tabari favored the reading of Asim. And Talhah ibn Musarif read likewise, and it is a reading that conveys a strong meaning. However, the reading of the majority conveys the continuity of the warning and its persistence over time, which is the basis for placing the future in the position of the past. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, in that is a sign," means: Indeed, in the matter of these cities and what has befallen them is a lesson and a sign for guidance for whoever fears the matter of the Hereafter and anticipates that he will receive its punishment, so he reflects and contemplates; for indeed, his reflection will lead him to believe in Allah, exalted and majestic is He. Then Allah magnified the matter of the Day of Resurrection by describing it with something that connects it to the reason between them and by returning the pronoun to it, and "the people" - in this case - is an object whose doer is not named, and it is correct that "the people" be in the nominative as a subject, and "gathered" is a preceding predicate.

(p-17) And this verse is news about the gathering, and ﴿witnessed﴾ is general in its entirety. It is witnessed by the first and the last among humans, angels, jinn, and animals - according to the saying of the majority. And there is a difference regarding it - I mean the silent animal. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The witness is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the witnessed is the Day of Resurrection.

And His saying: ﴿And we do not delay it﴾, the meaning is: And we do not delay the Day of Resurrection out of inability to do so, but the previous decree has been executed in it with a limited time that cannot be advanced or delayed. The majority read: "We do not delay it" with the letter ن, and Al-Amash read: "He does not delay it" with the letter ي.

And Asim, Ibn Amer, and Hamzah read: ﴿On the Day it comes﴾ by omitting the ي from (يأتي) in both connection and pause. Ibn Kathir read by affirming it in both connection and pause. Nafi, Abu Amr, and Al-Kisai read by affirming it in connection and omitting it in pause. It has also been narrated similarly from Ibn Kathir. The ي is affirmed in the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and it was omitted in the Imam of Uthman. In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, it is: "On the Day they come", and Al-Amash read it with it. The reason for omitting it in pause is the similarity to the endings, and affirming it in both cases is the original. The reason for omitting it in connection is to lighten it, as they say: "I do not care and I do not know." And Al-Tabari recited:

Enough is a hand that does not suffice for a dirham ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ generosity, and another is given with the sword blood.

(p-18) And His saying: ﴿No soul will speak﴾ can be correct as a sentence in the position of the state of the pronoun in "comes" which refers back to His saying: ﴿That is a Day﴾. It is not permissible for it to return to His saying: "On the Day it comes", because the day added to the action cannot be the doer of that action. The added is defined by what it is added to, and the action is defined by its doer, and there is nothing in itself that is intended independently of the doer. And their saying: "The master of his people, and the patron of his brother, and the only one of his mother" is distinct from what does not stand alone. Therefore, the addition is permissible in it. And His saying: "On the Day it comes" is on this - in the position of the nominative with the subject and its predicate: ﴿So among them is wretched and happy﴾. And in the speech - on this - there is an omitted return, the estimation of which is: "No soul will speak in it except". And it is correct that His saying: ﴿No soul will speak﴾ is a description of His saying: "On the Day it comes", and the news is His saying: ﴿So among them is wretched and happy﴾. And it is correct that His saying: ﴿No soul will speak﴾ is news about His saying: "On the Day it comes". And His saying: ﴿That is a Day﴾ refers to the day that precedes it, its night. And His saying: "On the Day it comes" refers to the time and the moment, not the day itself. It is as Uthman said: "I saw that I would not marry on this day", and as Al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Indeed, trust today among people is scarce."

And the meaning of His saying, the Most High: ﴿No soul speaks except by His permission﴾: is the description of the awe on the Day of Resurrection and the bewilderment of the mind and the horror of the Resurrection. This is what has been mentioned in the Qur'an regarding the speech of the people of the standing in mutual blame, questioning, and arguing. It is either that they speak by permission, or that this here is specific to the speech of intercession or establishing proof.

And His saying: ﴿So among them﴾ refers back to all that is included in His saying: ﴿soul﴾, as it is a term used generically to refer to the collective.