The hastening of the punishment was mockery from them and denial. Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith is the one who said: O Allah, send down upon us stones from the sky, as the companions of the Thicket said: So send down upon us pieces from the sky. If it were not for a term that Allah has named and clarified in the Tablet for their punishment, and wisdom necessitated its delay until that named term, the punishment would have come to them quickly. The intended term is the Hereafter, as it has been narrated that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, promised the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that He would not punish his people nor eradicate them, and that He would delay their punishment until the Day of Resurrection. [I did not find it.] It was said: the Day of Badr. It was said: the time of their demise at their appointed times. It will surround them, meaning it will encompass them on the day when the punishment overwhelms them, or it is surrounding them in this world: because the sins that necessitate it are surrounding them. Or because it is their ultimate end and return without a doubt, so it is as if the Hour is surrounding them. And the day when it overwhelms them is understood as being implied, meaning: the day when the punishment overwhelms them was such and such. From above them and from beneath their feet, as His saying, glorified and exalted is He: For them are canopies of fire from above them and from beneath them are canopies. And it is said that it is read with the pronoun 'we' and 'you': What you used to do, meaning its recompense.