Translation
On the day when He [God] will gather them, (they will feel as if) they only lived for an hour of a day; they will recognize (their previous relationships with) one another. Those who rejected before their meeting with God and did not strive to find guidance (for a purposeful and faithful life), they will indeed be in jeopardy (on that day). Irrespective of whether We bring about [show you] what We promised (as consequence of their conduct) or you die (before such outcomes become manifest), they will (eventually) return to Us; God is a Witness to what they do. 472
To every community [Ummah], there is a (designated) Messenger; so, when such messengers (and their messages) arrive, their affairs are decided based on just principles and no wrong is done to them. They ask: “When will this promise (of God) take place, if you speak the truth?” Tell them: “I have no control over any harm or benefit that might come to me except as God wills. For every community [nation, groups, families, individuals] is a term set [Azalun]and when such a term is about to manifest, they can neither defer it by a moment or hasten it before (its time).” Say: “When God’s promise [retribution] comes about on either by the hour of the day or the night, what part of it that you would want to speed up? Is it that when it happens, you will now turn to believe while in the past you asked to speed up such an outcome?
It will be said to those who acted unjustly: “Face the consequence of what you have earned; your reality is but what you have striven for.” They further ask: “Is this really true?” Tell them: “Yes, by my God it is the real truth; you will not escape (the judgment of God).” 473
Interpretation
472 There are times when our lives on this earth feel long, as in times of difficulty or abundance, which come in cycle to each one of us, but as time passes by, we develop a nagging feeling that the life is anything but short. Certainly in the scheme of the life of this planet and our human existence, our individual and collective lives are indeed short and transient. God makes us realize that when we will be resurrected and we will find ourselves again in the company of those whom we knew in our previous life on this planet, all of us, especially those who were unjust and without faith, will once again realize that the life they passed (they thought that such life has no return and has no accountability to God) was indeed very brief, and they missed the opportunity to seek guidance and live by it. Such realities of regrets and sudden awareness that one could have done better in his or her life on earth are mentioned in several other places in the Qur’an, such as in 79:46, 6:94, and 3:185, among many other similar verses.
473 The reality of the day of resurrection followed by the Day of Judgment as ordained by God is something that we need to take seriously, especially those of us who have faith in God and accepted God’s guidance. Such guidance came through generations of messengers such as Mohammad, Jesus, and Moses, who are most recent messengers of God, while there are thoughtful and intelligent people in each of our communities and in our immediate surroundings who likewise continue to call attention to God and His guidance. Such people are not necessarily the clerics or members of a church or a synagogue or a mosque as one might suspect but ordinary people—a cab driver, a business owner, a teacher, a scientist, a fellow worker—who exemplify such guidance and faith in God through their thoughtful conduct, humility, empathy for fellow human beings, intellectual honesty and curiosity, passion for a just society, constantly seeking the truth about God and humanity, caring for the health of our planet and other creations, and bowing to God in true mindfulness alone and with their fellow beings.
People without faith and who refuse to accept that we all came from God and to God we all will return eventually are cautioned throughout the Qur’an that such an outcome is bound to happen, as already ordained by God, and no amount of denial or demand to bring it on will affect how and when it will happen. And when it does happen, such people will be caught by surprise and will want to accept faith then but will be of no use at that point. See samples of similar verses from various parts of the Qur’an: 2:281, 37:18–36, 56:60–74, 77-87, 42:7, 64:9–10, 38:27–29.
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REFLECTION
Balancing the priorities of this life and the life to come is an important aspect for people who wish to establish faith and goodness in their own lives and in their communities. Some evils may triumph in the short term, but it will catch up in time in this life and in the hereafter, there will be no escape from direct judgment of God.
ACTION
We need to focus on truth and justice as much as we need to focus on learning, educating ourselves, and taking care of ourselves and our families. This is a tough challenge, but collectively we need to ensure that goodness and faith prevail in our societies over evils and lack of faith.
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Key Arabic Term
139. Azalun: Terms of life and existence (10:49)