Commentary
His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And We did not send you except comprehensively to the people as a bearer of good tidings and a warner, but most of the people do not know." "And they say, 'When is this promise, if you should be among the truthful?'" "Say, 'For you is the appointment of a Day from which you will never be able to delay for an hour or advance.'" This is a declaration from Allah, blessed and exalted is He, that He sent Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to all of the world. And "the comprehensively" refers to the complete gathering of people, and it is an accusative case indicating the state, and it was placed first due to its importance. This is one of the characteristics that Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, was specifically granted among the prophets, which he summarized in his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "I have been given five things that no one before me was given: I was aided with fear for the distance of a month, and the spoils of war have been made lawful for me and were not made lawful for anyone before me, and I was given the comprehensive speech, and the earth has been made for me a mosque and a means of purification, and every prophet was sent to a specific group of people, while I was sent to the black and the red." In these characteristics, there is an addition in the book of Muslim. And His saying: "But most of the people do not know" means the generality among the disbelievers, while the believers are the few. Then He mentioned their saying in mockery of the matter of resurrection and their hastening of it - in the sense of denial - by their saying: "When is this promise?" So Allah, exalted and glorified is He, commanded His Prophet to inform them about the appointment of a Day which is the Day of Resurrection, from which no one will be able to delay nor advance. Abu Ubaidah said: The promise, the warning, and the appointment are all of the same meaning, and there is disagreement on this. What is generally accepted among the people is that the promise refers to good, the warning to the disliked, and the appointment applies to both. He added the appointment to the Day as a figurative expression because it is contained within it. The verse can also imply that the hastening of the disbelievers is for the punishment of this world, and the answer to that could also be included, and there is no mention of the Resurrection in this interpretation.
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