Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 7 Al-A'raf, Ayat 53-53

هَلۡ يَنۡظُرُوۡنَ اِلَّا تَاۡوِيۡلَهٗ​ؕ يَوۡمَ يَاۡتِىۡ تَاۡوِيۡلُهٗ يَقُوۡلُ الَّذِيۡنَ نَسُوۡهُ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ قَدۡ جَآءَتۡ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالۡحَـقِّ​ۚ فَهَلْ لَّـنَا مِنۡ شُفَعَآءَ فَيَشۡفَعُوۡا لَـنَاۤ اَوۡ نُرَدُّ فَنَعۡمَلَ غَيۡرَ الَّذِىۡ كُنَّا نَـعۡمَلُ​ؕ قَدۡ خَسِرُوۡۤا اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ وَضَلَّ عَنۡهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا يَفۡتَرُوۡنَ‏  ﴿7:53﴾

(7:53) Are they waiting for the fulfilment of its warning?38 On the Day that warning is fulfilled, those that have neglected it before will say: 'The Messengers of Our Lord did indeed bring forth the truth. Are there any intercessors who will now plead on our behalf? Or, can we be restored to life that we might perform differently from that which we did? '39 They surely ended in utter loss, and the lies they had fabricated failed them.

Notes

38. The position of the people in question is as follows. The difference between good and evil was first explained to them, and yet they turned a deaf ear to it. Then some people established a good example by following the right path notwithstanding the dominant trend towards error. The wholesome effect of righteous conduct became evident from the lives of such people, but it made no impression on the people concerned. Their persistence in error could only mean one thing: that they would only learn the lesson the hard way when they saw the painful effects of their error. Such people are like stupid patients who neither follow the directions of the physician, nor learn any lesson from their own observations of the many patients who have been cured of their diseases by following the directions of physicians. Thesc people will realize - if they realize at all - on their death-bed that their ways were foolish and fatal.

39. Such people will long to return to the world, pleading that they will believe in the truth which they had rejected since they have now witnessed it. They will also ensure that their attitude will be different from that which had been before. For a fuller discussion of this plea and the rejoinder to it see (al-An'am 6: 27-8); (Ibrahim 14: 44 and 45); (al-Sajdah 32: 12-13); (al-Fatir 35: 37); (al-Zumar 39: 56-9); and (al-Mu'min 40: 11-12).