Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 67 Al-Mulk, Ayat 24-27

قُلۡ هُوَ الَّذِىۡ ذَرَاَكُمۡ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ وَاِلَيۡهِ تُحۡشَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿67:24﴾ وَيَقُوۡلُوۡنَ مَتٰى هٰذَا الۡوَعۡدُ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ صٰدِقِيۡنَ‏ ﴿67:25﴾ قُلۡ اِنَّمَا الۡعِلۡمُ عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ وَاِنَّمَاۤ اَنَا نَذِيۡرٌ مُّبِيۡنٌ‏  ﴿67:26﴾ فَلَمَّا رَاَوۡهُ زُلۡفَةً سِیْٓـئَتۡ وُجُوۡهُ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا وَقِيۡلَ هٰذَا الَّذِىۡ كُنۡتُمۡ بِهٖ تَدَّعُوۡنَ‏ ﴿67:27﴾

(67:24) Say: “Allah it is Who multiplied you in the earth and to Him you will be mustered.”34 (67:25) They say: “If you are truthful, tell us when will this promise (of the Hereafter) be fulfilled?”35 (67:26) Say: “Allah alone knows about that; and I am no more than a plain warner.”36 (67:27) When they will see it near at hand, the faces of all those who had denied it will be distraught,37 and then they will be told: “This is the doom which you used to ask for.”

Notes

34. That is, after being resurrected from death, you will be gathered together from every corner of the earth and presented before Allah.

35. They did not ask this question in order to know the time and date of Resurrection so that if they were told the year, the month, the day and time of its occurrence, they would accept it. But, in fact, they thought that Resurrection was impossible, and its occurrence remote from reason, and they asked this question in order to have an excuse for denying it. They meant to say: When will this strange story of Resurrection and gathering together, that you are telling us, materialize? What for has it been put off? Why don’t you make it appear forthwith so that we are assured of it? In this connection, one should understand that one can be certain of Resurrection only by rational arguments, and these have been elaborated at many places in the Quran. As for the date of its occurrence only an ignorant person could raise such a question about it, for even if it is told, it does not make any difference. The unbeliever would say: Well, when it does occur on the date you tell, I shall then believe in it; how can I believe today that it will actually occur on that very day? (For further explanation, see (E.N. 63 of Surah Luqman); (E.N. 116 of Surah Al-Ahzab); (E.Ns 5, 48 of Surah Saba ) (E.N. 45 of YaSeen).

36. That is, this I know that it will certainly come, and knowing this much only is enough for warning the people before its actual occurrence. As for the question when it will actually come, the knowledge of it is with Allah, not with me, and there is no need of this knowledge for administering the warning. This can be better understood by an example. As to the exact time when a person will die, it is only known to Allah; however, all know that everyone has to die one day. Our this knowledge is enough that we may warn a heedless friend of ours that he should look after himself and his interests before death. For this warning it is not necessary to know the exact day on which he will die.

37. That is, they will be in the same agony as is suffered by the criminal who is being taken to the gallows.