Do they not reflect on how many a generation We have destroyed before their time, in whose dwelling places they now walk about? In this there are signs indeed: will they not listen? Are they not aware that it is We who drive water to dry land devoid of herbage, and with it We bring forth crops of which their cattle and they themselves eat? Can they not see? They say: ‘When will this judgment be, if you are telling the truth?’ Say: ‘On the day when judgment is made no benefit will it be to unbelievers if they then believe; nor will they be granted respite.’ Therefore, leave them alone, and wait. They are certainly waiting
(Prostration, Al-Sajdah: 31: 26-30)
As it draws to its close, the Surah takes those who deny the Divine message on a round that looks at the fates suffered by earlier communities who took a similar stance: “Do they not reflect on how many a generation We have destroyed before their time, in whose dwelling places they now walk about? In this there are signs indeed: will they not listen?” What happened to past communities clearly indicates the law God has set in operation with regard to those who deny His message. God’s law neither fails nor shows any favoritism. With regard to life, prosperity, weakness and ruin, human communities are subject to constant laws. The Qur’an alerts us to such consistency and uses the fates of past communities and their ruins as telling reminders to all people so that they reflect and consider. They should be wary lest God’s punishment befalls them. Moreover, these past examples are shown as evidence of the permanent validity of God’s laws, so that people’s understanding and values are raised. No community or generation would then isolate itself within its own time or location, oblivious of the law that remains consistent throughout life. Still, many overlook the lessons until they face the same fate.
The remains of past communities tell a highly effective story that touches sensitive hearts and alert consciences. The Arabs who were the first to be addressed by the Qur’an used to travel by the remains of the peoples of the ‘Ad and Thamud, and they saw the ruins of the townships where Lot’s people lived. The Surah wonders how these were available to them, and how they pass them by, without feeling the need to avoid a similar fate. It tells them what sort of action is needed to avoid God’s punishment: “In this there are signs indeed: will they not listen?” It is indeed right that they should listen carefully to the histories of those communities through whose townships they pass, and that they should listen to the warnings before they are overwhelmed by a similar punishment.
The Surah then touches their hearts with an image of life as it starts, showing them a barren land before it quickens and life springs out of it. This image provides contrast with the earlier one showing death and ruin devastating a land that was once full of life: “Are they not aware that it is We who drive water to dry land devoid of herbage, and with it We bring forth crops of which their cattle and they themselves eat? Can they not see?”
They see with their own eyes how God sends water to barren land, and how soon it becomes green, rife with plants and crops, which provide food for them and their cattle. This image of a dead land rejuvenated by rain opens closed hearts to look at this beautiful life force given by the One who causes life to blossom. The feeling that this image leaves is one of closeness to God Almighty who makes all this possible. It is He, and only He, who brings life and beauty to this universe.
We see how the Qur’an takes our hearts through life and growth after ruin and death. In both situations, it aims to shake off the languid effect of over familiarity. Furthermore, it aims to remove those stifling barriers that prevent us from heeding the lessons of history.
The final section refers to their hastening of the punishment against which they have been warned, and their doubts about the warnings they have been given. They are warned once more against the fulfillment of what they are hastening, when no declaration of belief will be of any benefit. Nor will they be given any respite. The Surah concludes with a directive telling the Prophet to leave them to their inevitable fate: “They say: ‘When will this judgment be, if you are telling the truth?’ Say: ‘On the day when judgment is made no benefit will it be to unbelievers if they then believe; nor will they be granted respite.’ Therefore, leave them alone, and wait. They are certainly waiting.”
The judgment referred to here means a decision on the dispute between the two parties and the fulfillment of the promise, which they thought would never come true. They could not understand God’s purpose in delaying it to the time He appointed for it. Their hastening of it will not change its timing, nor can they escape it.
“Say: On the day when judgment is made no benefit will it be to unbelievers if they then believe; nor will they be granted respite.” This is true whether this day occurs in this present life when God takes them as unbelievers, giving them no respite as their belief will be of no benefit, or in the life to come when their appeals for respite are refused. This answer sends a tremor of fear into their hearts. This is then followed with the final note in the Surah: “Therefore, leave them alone, and wait. They are certainly waiting.” This is a clear implicit warning of the consequences of waiting. It is made all the more explicit given the Prophet is told to turn away from them and leave them to their inevitable destiny.