His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And thus We reward whoever transgresses and does not believe in the signs of his Lord. And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and everlasting." "Did they not guide them how many generations We destroyed before them, walking in their dwellings? Indeed, in that are signs for those of understanding." "And if it had not been for a word that had preceded from your Lord, it would have been obligatory and a specified term." "So be patient over what they say, and glorify with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and during parts of the night, so glorify, and at the ends of the day, perhaps you will be pleased."

The meaning: And as We have described from the painful deeds, We reward the transgressors, the exceeding disbelievers in Allah, exalted and majestic is He. And His saying, glorified is He: "And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and everlasting," if the life of hardship is in this world or in the Barzakh, this comes as a warning of the punishment of the Hereafter after a warning. And if the life of hardship is in the Hereafter, then the warning confirms this saying which made the punishment of the Hereafter above every punishment that a person can imagine or that occurs in this world.

Then He began to admonish them and remind them of the lessons by His saying, exalted is He: "Did they not guide them?" A group read: "Yahdi" with a ya, meaning: it becomes clear. This group differed regarding the subject, so some of them said: the subject is "kam," and this is a Kufan opinion. The grammarians of Basra do not permit it, because "kam" has the beginning of the speech. In the reading of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: "Did they not guide them who We destroyed?" It is as if this reading corresponds to that interpretation regarding "kam." Some of them said: the subject is Allah, exalted and majestic is He, and the meaning is: Did they not guide them what Allah made for them of signs and lessons? Thus, the action is attributed to Allah, exalted and majestic is He, in this way: this was said by Al-Zajjaj. And some of them said: the subject is implied, the guidance or the command.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Or the consideration and reflection, this is the best that can be inferred in my opinion.

And a group read: "Nahdi" with a nun, and this reading corresponds to the interpretation of those who said in the one accepted: the subject is Allah, and "kam" - according to these statements - is in the accusative case with "ahlakna." Then He specified "the generations" by stating that these disbelievers walk in their dwellings. He intended 'Aad and Thamud and the tribes that Quraysh used to pass by their lands on the way to Sham and others. And a group read: "Yamshoon" with a fatha on the ya, and a group read: "Yumashshoona" with a damma on the ya, a fatha on the meem, and a shadda on the sheen. And "al-nuha" is the plural of "nuha," which is what prevents a person from doing the ugly.

Then Allah, exalted and majestic is He, informed that the punishment would have been obligatory upon them if it had not been for a word that had preceded from Allah, exalted and majestic is He, in delaying it for a specified term with Him. So the meaning of the speech is: And if it had not been for a word that had preceded in delaying for a specified term, the punishment would have been obligatory, as you say: it would have been inevitable or a necessary occurrence, but He has delayed and postponed so that the heads of the verses may correspond.

And the people differed regarding the term - it is possible that he means the Day of Resurrection. The promised punishment in this case is the punishment of Hellfire. It is also possible that he means by the term the death of each one of them. The punishment in this case is what he faces in his grave and what comes after it. It is possible that he means by the term the Day of Badr. The punishment in this case is their killing by the sword. And in every possibility we have mentioned, a group has said so. In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is stated that the Day of Badr is the decisive one, and it is the greatest blow.

Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, commanded him to be patient regarding their words: 'Indeed, he is a magician,' and 'Indeed, he is a soothsayer,' and 'Indeed, he is a liar,' and so on. The meaning is: do not concern yourself with them, for they are on the brink of destruction. And the fact that the decisive event was on the Day of Badr is more significant in the verses of our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

His saying, blessed and exalted is He: 'And glorify with praise of your Lord,' most of the interpreters said: this refers to the five prayers: 'before the rising of the sun': the Fajr prayer, 'and before its setting': the Asr prayer, 'and from the hours of the night': the Isha prayer, 'and at the ends of the day': the Maghrib and Dhuhr prayers. A group said: 'the hours of the night': the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and 'the ends of the day': only the Dhuhr prayer. The wording allows for the meaning to be understood as saying: 'Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him' from after the Fajr prayer until the two rak'ahs of Dhuha, and before sunset; for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Whoever glorifies at sunset, his sins will be removed.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And he named the two ends as 'ends' in one of two ways: either in the manner of his saying: 'Indeed, your hearts have deviated' [At-Tahrim: 4], or by making the day a general term, for every day has two ends, which he combined. As for the one who said: 'the ends of the day' refers only to the Dhuhr prayer, he must hold that the day is a general term as we said, or he must say: the day is divided into two parts, separated by noon, and each part has two ends. So at noon, there are two ends, the latter from the first division, and the first from the second division. He said regarding the two ends: 'ends' in the manner of 'Indeed, your hearts have deviated' [At-Tahrim: 4]. And Abu Bakr ibn Furak pointed to this perspective in 'Al-Mushkil.'

And 'the hours' is the plural of 'hour,' which is the time of the night. From this is the saying of Al-Hudhali:

'If a bitter drink passes by, it is in every hour that the judges of the night are present.'

A group said: the verse refers to the supererogatory prayers, so from them are the hours of the night, and from them is before the rising of the sun, and the two rak'ahs of Fajr and the Maghrib are the ends of the day. And the majority read: 'Perhaps you will be pleased' with the opening of the 'ta,' meaning: perhaps you will be rewarded for these deeds with what pleases you. And Al-Kisai and Abu Bakr from Asim read: 'Perhaps you will be given what pleases you.'