Allah mentions what those who committed injustice against themselves will say
when they witness the torment,
[رَبَّنَآ أَخِّرْنَآ
إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ نُّجِبْ دَعْوَتَكَ وَنَتَّبِعِ الرُّسُلَ]
(Our Lord! Respite us for a little while, we will answer Your call and follow
the Messengers!) Allah said in other Ayat,
[حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَ
أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ ]
(Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "My Lord! Send me
back.'')[23:99] and,
[يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ
ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَلُكُمْ]
(O you who believe! Let not your properties divert you.) [63:9-10] Allah
described the condition of the wrongdoers on the Day of Gathering, when He said,
[وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ
الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُواْ رُءُوسِهِمْ]
(And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads.)
[32:12],
[وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ
وُقِفُواْ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواْ يلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلاَ نُكَذِّبَ
بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا]
(If you could but see when they will be held over the Fire! They will say:
"Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the
Ayat of Our Lord. ..''!) [6:27] and,
[وَهُمْ
يَصْطَرِخُونَ فِيهَا]
(Therein they will cry.) [35:27] Allah refuted their statement here,
[أَوَلَمْ تَكُونُواْ
أَقْسَمْتُمْ مِّن قَبْلُ مَا لَكُمْ مِّن زَوَالٍ]
(Had you not sworn aforetime that you would not leave.) Allah says, `Had you
not vowed before, that your previous state will not change, that there will be
no Resurrection or Reckoning Therefore, taste this torment because of what you
vowed before.' Mujahid commented that,
[مَا لَكُمْ مِّن
زَوَالٍ]
(that you would not leave.) refers to leaving this worldly life to the
Hereafter. Allah also said,
[وَأَقْسَمُواْ
بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَـنِهِمْ لاَ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَن يَمُوتُ]
(And they swear by Allah with their strongest oaths, that Allah will not
raise up him who dies.) [16:38] Allah said next,
[وَسَكَنتُمْ فِى
مَسَـكِنِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ كَيْفَ فَعَلْنَا
بِهِمْ وَضَرَبْنَا لَكُمُ الأَمْثَالَ ]
(And you dwelt in the dwellings of men who wronged themselves, and it was
clear to you how We had dealt with them. And We put forth (many) parables for
you.) Allah says, `you have witnessed or heard of the news of what happened to
the earlier disbelieving nations, but you did not draw a lesson from their end,
nor did what We punished them with provide an example for you,'
[حِكْمَةٌ بَـلِغَةٌ
فَمَا تُغْنِـى النُّذُرُ ]
(Perfect wisdom but the warners benefit then not.)[54:5] Shu`bah narrated
that Abu Ishaq said that `Abdur-Rahman bin Dabil said that `Ali bin Abi Talib
commented on Allah's statement,
[وَإِن كَانَ
مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ]
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their
places.) "He who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, took two eaglets and
raised them until they became adult eagels. Then he tied each eagel's leg to a
wooden box with ropes and left them go hungry. He and another man sat inside the
wooden box and raised a staff with a piece of meat on its tip. So, the two
eagles started flying. The king asked his companion to tell him what he was
seeing, and he described the scenes to him, until he said that he saw the earth
as a fly. So, the king brought the staff closer to the eagels and they started
landing slowly. This is why Allah said, (وَإِنْ كَادَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ
مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ) `though their plot was hardly one to remove the mountains
from their places.''' Mujahid also mentioned that this story was about
Nebuchadnezzar, and that when the king's sight was far away from earth and its
people, he was called, `O tyrant one! Where are you headed to' He became afraid
and brought the staff closer to the eagels, which flew faster with such haste
that the mountains almost shook from the noise they made. The mountains were
almost moved from their places, so Allah said,
[وَإِن كَانَ
مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ]
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their
places.)'' Ibn Jurayj narrated that Mujahid recited this Ayah in a way that
means, "though their plot was such as to remove the mountains from their
places.'' However, Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said that,
[وَإِن كَانَ
مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ]
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their
places.) indicates that their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from
their places. Similar was said by Al-Hasan Al-Basri. Ibn Jarir reasoned that,
"Associating others with Allah and disbelieving in Him, which they brought upon
themselves, did not bother the mountains nor other creatures. Rather, the harm
of their actions came to haunt them.'' I (Ibn Kathir) said, this meaning is
similar to Allah's statement,
[وَلاَ تَمْشِ فِى
الاٌّرْضِ مَرَحًا إِنَّكَ لَن تَخْرِقَ الاٌّرْضَ وَلَن تَبْلُغَ الْجِبَالَ
طُولاً ]
(And walk not on the earth with conceit and arrogance. Verily, you can
neither rend nor penetrate the earth, nor can you attain a stature like the
mountains in height.)[17:37] There is another way of explaining this Ayah; `Ali
bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said that,
[وَإِن كَانَ
مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبَالُ]
(though their plot was not such as to remove the mountains from their
places.) refers to their Shirk, for Allah said in another Ayah,
[تَكَادُ
السَّمَـوَتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ]
(Whereby the heavens are almost torn.) [19:90] Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah said
similarly.
[فَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ
اللَّهَ مُخْلِفَ وَعْدِهِ رُسُلَهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انتِقَامٍ - يَوْمَ
تُبَدَّلُ الاٌّرْضُ غَيْرَ الاٌّرْضِ وَالسَّمَـوَتُ وَبَرَزُواْ للَّهِ
الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ ]
(47. So think not that Allah will fail to keep His promise to His Messengers.
Certainly, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Able of Retribution.) (48. On the Day when
the earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens, and they
(all creatures) will appear before Allah, the One, the Irresistible.)