In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful
We have sent you to all mankind so that you bring them good news and give them warning; but most people do not understand. They ask: “When is this promise to be fulfilled, if what you say be true?” Say: “There has been appointed for you a day which you can neither delay nor advance by single moment.”
The unbelievers say: “We will never believe in this Qur’an, nor in any earlier revelations.” If only you could see how the wrongdoers shall be made to stand before their Lord, hurling reproaches at one another. Those of them who were weak on earth will say to those who had deemed themselves mighty: “Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers.” (Sheba; Saba’: 34: 28-31)
The surah now begins a passage that tackles the unbelievers’ attitude of the message delivered by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Indeed their attitude echoes that of the affluent to every divine message. Such people are normally deluded by their riches and their offspring, and the fact that they command much of what this life can offer, thinking that this indicates they are favored by God, and that such favors will ensure they do not suffer punishment in the hereafter. Therefore, the surah shows them their situation in the life to come, as though it is happening now before their very eyes. So that they will know whether anything of what they have can benefit or protect them on the Day of Judgment. These scenes show clearly that neither the angels nor the jinn they worshipped in this life, and from whom they sought help, can give them anything whatsoever in the life to come. As the argument progresses the surah explains what carries real weight in God’s measure. Thus the false values they have in this world are seen for what they are. It becomes clear that granting wealth in abundance or otherwise in this present life depends on God’s will. It should not be taken as evidence of anyone’s position with Him. It is all a means of testing people.
“We have sent you to all mankind so that you bring them good news and give them warning; but most people do not understand.” This clarifies what was stated in the previous passage that the role of the advocates of truth does not go beyond delivering God’s message and presenting it clearly before the rest of mankind. The current passage starts with explaining the mission assigned to the Prophet. It is clear that they are unaware of its nature. Hence, they try to hasten what he promises or threatens them with. It makes clear that this comes at the time God has determined for it, which is unknown to anyone other than Him: “We have sent you to all mankind so that you bring them good news and give them warning.” Such is the remit of the message addressed to all mankind: to bring good news and to give warning. When this is done, the messenger’s role has ended. As for the fulfillment of promise and warning, this is all left to God to determine: “but most people do not understand.”
“They ask: When is this promise to be fulfilled, if what you say be true?” The very question implies that they do not understand the messenger’s role or the limits of the message. The Qur’an wants the question of God’s oneness to be absolutely clear: Muhammad is His Messenger with a clearly defined remit. He fulfils his task but does not go beyond this. All authority belongs to God: it is He who has given him the message to deliver, clearly defining his role. It is not part of his role to decide, or even to know, when the promise and the warning are to be fulfilled. This all belongs to God. The Prophet knows his limits. Therefore, he does not even question anything God has not chosen to inform him of, or has not assigned to him. Here, God instructs him to give them this particular reply: “Say: There has been appointed for you a day which you can neither delay nor advance by single moment.”
Everything occurs at its particular time, which God has determined. It is neither hastened nor delayed for anyone. Nothing occurs by coincidence. On the contrary, everything is created according to a particular plan, in which things are interrelated. God’s will determines events and timings according to His own wisdom, of which we only understand what God chooses to impart to us. When people try to hasten His promise or warning, they betray their ignorance of this fundamental fact. Hence, since most people do not understand, this leads them to questioning and hastening things.
The next verse speaks about a determined attitude to reject all divine guidance: “The unbelievers say: We will never believe in this Qur’an, nor in any earlier revelations.” They make it clear that they will never believe, neither in the Qur’an nor in any divine book that preceded the Qur’an, which in fact confirms its truth. They are not prepared to believe in any of this at any time in the future either. They are determined to disbelieve, deliberately refusing even to consider anything that points to faith. It is all, then, a well-considered stance. Therefore, the surah puts before their eyes what happens to them on the Day of Judgment as a result of their stubborn rejection: “If only you could see how the wrongdoers shall be made to stand before their Lord, hurling reproaches at one another. Those of them who were weak on earth will say to those who had deemed themselves mighty: Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers.”
Their assertion that they will never believe in any revealed book is made in this life. So, what will they say in a totally different situation? If only we could see these wrongdoers when they are ‘made to stand’, i.e. forced into it against their will or better judgment. They are guilty, made to stand and await a decision by their Lord, in whose words and scriptures they profess they will never believe. Yet now they stand before Him. If you could watch them, you would see how they reproach one another, exchanging accusations and trying to blame each other. So, what is it that they say?
“Those of them who were weak on earth will say to those who had deemed themselves mighty: ‘Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers.”’ They blame their leaders, accusing them of being responsible for this humiliation and what will come next of great suffering. They state this now but were totally unable to confront them in this way during their life on earth, prevented as they were by their weakness and submission. They had sold out the freedom and dignity God had granted them, as well as the reasoning He had blessed them with. Now that all false values have been discarded, and they are put face to face with a long-lasting suffering, they can express themselves without fear: “Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers.”