Surah 11. Hud, Ayah 8
| وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ ۗ أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ |
| Asad | : | And thus it is: if We defer their suffering until a time-limit set [by Us],13 they are sure to say, "What is preventing it [from coming now]?"14 Oh, verily, on the Day when it befalls them there will be nothing to avert it from them; and they shall be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride.15 |
| Malik | : | And if We put off their punishment till an appointed time, they are sure to ask: "What is holding it back?" Beware! When the Day of that punishment comes, nothing will hold it back from them and they will be completely encircled by that which they are ridiculing. |
| Pickthall | : | And if We delay for them the doom until a reckoned time, they will surely say: What withholdeth it? Verily on the day when it cometh unto them, it cannot be averted from them, and that which they derided will surround them. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | If We delay the Penalty for them for a definite term they are sure to say "What keeps it back?" Ah! on the day it (actually) reaches them nothing will turn it away from them and they will be completely encircled by that which they used to mock at! 1505 |
| Transliteration | : | wa- la- 'in 'akhkharnaa can -hum al- cadhaab 'ilaa 'ummah macdodah la- yaqolanna maa yah.bis -hu 'a-laa yawm ya'te -him laysa mas.rof(an) can -hum wa- h.aaqa bi- -him maa kaano bi- -hi yastahzi'on |
Note - 13Lit., "a time computed [by Us]", i.e., the Day of
Judgment: a reference to the last sentence of verse {3}
above, where the Prophet is made to say, "I dread for you
the suffering [which is bound to befall you] on that
awesome Day!" Among the several meanings which the noun
ummah comprises, that of "time" or "a period of time" is
the most appropriate here (Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir and
other classical commentators).
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Note - 14For an explanation of this allusion to the attitude of
the unbelievers, see 8:32 and 10:50, as well as the
corresponding notes; cf. also {6:57-58}. The repeated
Quranic references to the above derisive query are
evidently meant to show that the attitude of mind
responsible for it is not restricted to an isolated
historic incident (see surah {8}, note [32]) but is
symptomatic of most, if not all, people "who are bent on
denying the truth".
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Note - 15Lit., "that which they were wont to deride enfolded them
(haqa bihim)". According to almost all the commentators,
the use of the past tense in the verb haqa, despite the
fact that it refers to the future, has the syntactic
value of a stress, implying the inevitability of the
happening to which it relates. (See also note [9] on
6:10.)
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Note - 1505As much as to say: "Oh! all this talk of punishment is
nonsense. There is no such thing!"
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Lit., "a time computed [by Us]", i.e., the Day of Judgment: a reference to the last sentence of verse {3} above, where the Prophet is made to say, "I dread for you the suffering [which is bound to befall you] on that awesome Day!" Among the several meanings which the noun ummah comprises, that of "time" or "a period of time" is the most appropriate here (Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir and other classical commentators). |
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For an explanation of this allusion to the attitude of the unbelievers, see 8:32 and 10:50, as well as the corresponding notes; cf. also {6:57-58}. The repeated Quranic references to the above derisive query are evidently meant to show that the attitude of mind responsible for it is not restricted to an isolated historic incident (see surah {8}, note [32]) but is symptomatic of most, if not all, people "who are bent on denying the truth". |
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Lit., "that which they were wont to deride enfolded them (haqa bihim)". According to almost all the commentators, the use of the past tense in the verb haqa, despite the fact that it refers to the future, has the syntactic value of a stress, implying the inevitability of the happening to which it relates. (See also note [9] on 6:10.) |
