سَاعَةً

10:50; 15:6; 16:62; 35:46.

Important Words:

یستقدمون (get ahead) is derived from قدم i.e. he preceded; or he came before; or he headed (someone else). استقدم القوم means, he preceded the people, or he went ahead of the people, or he went before them (Lane & Aqrab). As one who gets ahead of a thing virtually leaves it behind, therefore, the idea in یستقدمون (get ahead) is that of escaping.

یستأخرون (remain behind) is derived from اخر. They say استأخرالقوم i.e. he remained behind the people. استأخر also means, he or it was put behind or put off or delayed (Lane & Aqrab). As one who remains behind a thing virtually puts the thing off, therefore, the idea in یستأخرون (remain behind) is that of putting off.

Commentary:

The verse means that when the time fixed for the punishment of a people comes, it cannot be averted. Disbelievers, who have incurred it, can neither escape it nor put it off by a single moment.

30:56; 46:36.

6:32; 30:9; 32:11.

Commentary:

Disbelievers have been several times spoken of in the Quran as having stayed in the world only for an hour of a day. In all such verses it is not the actual time of their staying in the world that is meant. It is only their being engrossed in worldly affairs and idle pursuits that is implied. The day is primarily meant for work and, inasmuch as disbelievers spend most of their time in earning the paltry goods of the world or pass their time in hunting after enjoyment and do not make any effort to win the pleasure of God, it may be rightly said of them that they have lived in the world only for a day, even though they may have actually lived for thousands of years, for they do not benefit by their lives and do not put their days to the right use for which they are meant. If it had been meant to give the actual period of time for which disbelievers stayed on earth, there was no need of specifying the time of the day, for time can be measured by night also.

The words, who deny the meeting with Allah, supply the reason why disbelievers pass their life in negligence. It was due to their lack of faith in meeting with God, which indeed is a great incentive to good works. Both those who obey through fear and those who obey from motives of love are prompted to do good works because they know that one day they will stand before God when they will have to render an account of their deeds. When this faith is wanting, negligence is the natural consequence.

7:189.

7:35; 16:62; 35:46.

Commentary:

This verse embodies a reply to the disbelievers’ demand for punishment (mentioned in the preceding verse). The Holy Prophet is bidden to ask them how he could fulfil their demand for punishment when personally he possessed no power either to do good to, or avert evil from, himself. How clearly this and similar other verses show that the real object of the Quran is to uphold the Unity of God! The Quran cannot bear any human being, even the greatest of all the Prophets, to be regarded as equal to God.

The word امة (people) in this verse means those who disbelieve and not people generally as referred to in v. 48. The verse means to say that there comes a time when disbelievers meet their inevitable end and their place is taken by another people who follow the Divine Messenger. In other words, the Holy Prophet is made to say to disbelievers that, though it is not in his power to bring punishment on them, yet, as it is the immutable law of God that when a people take to evil ways they decline and fall, they will not be allowed to go unpunished and on their ashes a new people shall arise and a new era of truth shall dawn.

10:12; 18:59; 35:46.

7:35; 10:50.

Commentary:

This verse furnishes an answer to a possible doubt arising from the preceding verse. The doubter would say, if Divine revelation is the only source of guidance, and teachings devised by man all lead to error, why then do disbelievers, in spite of their rejection of Divine guidance, not always come to grief in this life? On the contrary, many of them are seen to prosper, which fact shows that they are not altogether in the wrong. One answer implied in the verse is that if thieves, robbers and murderers do not always meet with immediate punishment and sometimes get respite, how can respite granted to rejecters of the Quran be adduced as a proof that it is not the revealed word of God? Another reason embodied in this verse as to why punishment is not always meted out to the guilty is that if all sins had been at once punished by God, the world would have come to an end and all life on earth would have become extinct. Man would have perished as a result of his sins and there would have been no purpose in the beasts, animals, birds etc., remaining alive after his destruction. Being created for man’s use and benefit they would have perished with him. So God’s wise plan in granting respite to evildoers and deferring their punishment provides yet another proof of the life after death when man’s actions will meet with full and even-handed justice.

7:35; 10:50.

Commentary:

If v. 27 above is taken as referring to the Battle of Badr, the word یوم (day) in the present verse would signify 'a year'. The Battle of Badr wasfought in about a year after the Hijrah.

10:46; 30:56; 79:47.

Commentary:

In this verse the Holy Prophet is told that with his advent a new heaven and a new earth would be born. The old decrepit order would die and a new and better one would emerge from its ruins. But before that great and glorious day his own mettle and that of his followers would be put to a severe test. They will have to bear, with patience and fortitude, like great Prophets of God, very great hardships and privations, and it is after they will come out of the ordeal triumphantly and unscathed that their cause will prevail. That would be a glorious day for believers; and for the disbelievers a time of heart-burning and gnashing of teeth. So severe and swift and overwhelming would be God’s punishment that compared to it a whole life spent in comfort and ease would seem but an "hour".