19. Here again the word tabaraka has been used and in the context it means: Allah has full control over everything and has unlimited powers: if he wills to favor somebody, He can do so as and when He wills without let or hindrance.

20. The word as-saat, meaning the time or the Hour, has been used in the Quran as a term for the promised Hour of Resurrection, when all human beings of all ages will be raised from the dead and gathered together before Allah Almighty to account for their beliefs and deeds, right or wrong, and rewarded or punished accordingly.

21. That is, the objections they are raising are not due to the reason that they doubt the authenticity of the Quran on some rational ground, or that they do not believe in you for the reason that you eat food and walk about in the streets like the common people, or that they did not accept your message of truth only because you were not escorted by an angel, or were not given a treasure. But the real reason why they are putting forward all sorts of absurd arguments to reject your message is that they do not believe in the lifeafter- death, and this denial has made them free from all moral obligations. For when one denies the life-after death, there remains no need for him to consider and decide what is true or false, or what is right or wrong, etc. Their argument is like this: There is going to be no life after this one on the earth when we will be called to account for our deeds before God. Death will be the end of everything, and it will therefore make no difference whether one was a worshiper of God or a disbeliever or a mushrik or an atheist. When the ultimate end is to become one with the dust, there is no need of judging what is right and what is wrong except by the criterion of success and failure in this life. Those who deny the Hereafter also see that worldly success or failure does not entirely depend upon one’s faith or conduct; nay, they very often see that the righteous and the wicked persons meet with the same end irrespective of their faith for which there is no ordained punishment or reward in this life; one righteous person may be living a life of hardship while another enjoying all the good things of life; one wicked person may be suffering for his misdeeds while the other enjoying a life of pleasure and plenty. As such, as far as the worldly consequences of adopting a particular moral attitude are concerned, the disbelievers in the Hereafter cannot be satisfied whether it is right or wrong. In view of this, those who deny the Hereafter, do not see any need to consider an invitation to faith and morality even if it is presented in a most forceful way.

22. “The Fire sees them” The words used in the text may be metaphorical, or they may mean that the Fire of Hell will be endowed with the faculties of seeing, thinking and judging.

23. Literally: It is a promise whose fulfillment can be demanded (from Allah).

Here one may ask the question: How can the promise of the Garden and the threat of the Fire produce any effect on the attitude of a parson who denies resurrection and the existence of Paradise and Hell? In order to understand the wisdom of this method of admonition, one should keep in view that it is meant to appeal to the self-interest of an obdurate person, who does not otherwise listen to such arguments. This is, as if to say: Even if, for the sake of argument, there is no proof of the reality of the life-afterdeath, there is also no proof that such an event will not occur at all, and there is a possibility for both. In the latter case, the believer and the disbeliever both will be in one and the same position, but if there is life in the Hereafter, as the Prophet asserts, then the disbelievers will be doomed to utter ruin. Therefore, such an approach breaks the stubbornness of the disbelievers and proves to be highly effective when the entire scene of resurrection gathering of the people, their accountability and of Hell and Heaven is presented in a vivid manner as if the Prophet (peace be upon him) had himself seen it with his own eyes. For further explanation, see (Surah HaMim Sajdah, Ayat 52 and E. N. 69) thereof, and (Surah Al-Ahqaf, Ayat 10).