وَأَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا
16:23; 27:5; 34:9.
Commentary:
This verse continues and develops the theme of the previous verse and leaves no doubt about the fact that negligent people come to grief. The word الاخرة (lit. meaning ‘that which comes after’) has erroneously been taken to mean یوم الاخرة(the Last Day) only. The word should be interpreted in harmony with its context. In the present verse 'the end of nations' seems to be the most appropriate meaning of the word الاخرة. The verse means to say that those who ignore the patent fact that the end of every rise is fall, tend to neglect their duties and responsibilities with the result that they draw upon themselves Divine punishment.
The fact that this verse is connected with the preceding verse by the conjunction و (and) also supports the above interpretation, for it shows that it is Muslims who have been addressed here, and Muslims cannot be said to deny یوم الاخرة (the Day of Judgement). So the word آخرةcannot be taken to mean here the Day of Judgement or the Last Day but that which is yet to come—the end of a doomed nation.
16:23; 27:5; 34:9.