Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:8
And if We hold back from them the punishment for a limited time, they will surely say, "What detains it?" Unquestionably, on the Day it comes to them, it will not be averted from them, and they will be enveloped by what they used to ridicule.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ أَلا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ (And if We delay the punishment from them until a counted period, they will surely say: "What holds it back?" Verily, the day it comes upon them, it will not be averted from them, and that which they mocked will encompass them) (8).
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted be His mention, says: If We delay the punishment of those polytheists from your people, O Muḥammad, and do not hasten it for them, and We prolong their term إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — until an appointed time and a fixed number of years.
The original meaning of "al-umma" is, as we have already explained in our book, the community of people that unites around a single direction and religion; then it is used in many meanings that go back to that original fundamental meaning. The designation of "the counted years" and "the period" by the word "umma" in this and similar contexts is because within it there exists a community.
The meaning of the verse is: If We delay the punishment from them until the coming of a community and the passing away of another that precedes it.
In accordance with what we have said — that the meaning of "al-umma" in this verse is the term and the appointed time — the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
17991 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; and al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — he said: "Until an appointed term."
17992 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — the same.
17994 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — he said: "A counted term."
17995 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: "Until a counted term."
17996 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — he said: "Until an appointed time."
17997 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
17998 — [...] he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
17999 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — that is to say: We held back the punishment from them إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: "Until an appointed time."
18000 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَلَئِنْ أَخَّرْنَا عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابَ إِلَى أُمَّةٍ مَعْدُودَةٍ — that is to say: "Until a known term."
And His word: لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ — that is to say: Those polytheists will surely say: "What holds it back?" — that is to say: what prevents the hastening of the punishment with which he threatens us? And that arises from their denial of it and their supposition that it is only delayed because of the mendacity of the one who threatens, as in:
18002 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said, concerning His word: لَيَقُولُنَّ مَا يَحْبِسُهُ — he said: "In denial of it, or: it amounts to nothing."
And His word: أَلا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says, in confirmation of His threat and in confirmation of His report: Verily, the day that that punishment which they deny comes upon them لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ — that is to say: there is nothing that averts it from them and nothing that repels it from them; it will descend upon them and destroy them — وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ — that is to say: that which they mocked, namely the punishment of Allah, descends upon them and befalls them. And their mockery of it — as Allah has mentioned — consisted in their words before its descent: "What holds it back?" and "Why does it not come to us?"
In accordance with what we have said about this, some of the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18003 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ — he said: "That which their prophets had brought them of the truth."
