22. Sura al-Hajj

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ...

22: 47. Yet they ask thee to hasten on the Punishment!

But Allah will not fail in His promise.

C2826. If Allah gives respite, those to whom it is given have a real chance of repentance and amendment. He will not curtail His promise of respite.

But on the other hand He has promised to call everyone to account for his deeds, and this involves justice and punishment for sin.

Hiis promise will also come true. It is foolish to try to hasten it. Time with Him is nothing. We keep count of time for our relative calculations. His existence is absolute, and not conditioned by Time or Place. What we call a thousand years may be nothing more than a day or a minute to Him.

...وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ ﴿٤٧﴾

Verily a day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning.

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ...

22: 48. And to how many populations did I give respite, which were given to wrongdoing?

C2827. The argument begun in 22:45 is now rounded off and closed.

... ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا...

In the end I punished them.

...وَإِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٤٨﴾

To Me is the destination (of all).

Asad’s Version:

22:47 [al-Hajj, Medina 103]

And [so, O Muhammad,] they challenge thee to hasten the coming upon them of [God's] chastisement:" but God never fails to fulfil His promise - and, behold, in thy Sustainer's sight a day is like a thousand years of your reckoning."

(22:48) And to how many a community that was immersed in evildoing have I given rein for a while! But then I took it to task: for with Me is all journeys' end!