Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:86
Indeed, your Lord - He is the Knowing Creator.
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.
﴿فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ مُصْبِحِينَ (٨٣) فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ (٨٤)﴾ (So the Cry seized them at the coming of the morning (83). And what they had earned availed them nothing (84).)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: The inhabitants of al-Ḥijr — and they were the Thamūd, the people of Ṣāliḥ — ﴿يَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا آمِنِينَ﴾ (carved out of the mountains houses, while they were secure) against the punishment of Allah. And it has been said: secure against destruction, namely that their houses which they had carved out of the mountains would be destroyed. And it has been said: secure against death.
And His word ﴿فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ مُصْبِحِينَ﴾ (So the Cry seized them at the coming of the morning) means: the Cry of destruction seized them when they came into the morning of the fourth day, counting from the day on which the punishment had been announced to them, and on which it was said to them: "Enjoy yourselves yet three days in your dwelling."
And His word ﴿فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ﴾ (And what they had earned availed them nothing) means: the evil deeds which they used to commit beforehand did not avert from them the punishment of Allah.
The explanation of the word of the Exalted: ﴿وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلا بِالْحَقِّ وَإِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لآتِيَةٌ فَاصْفَحِ الصَّفْحَ الْجَمِيلَ (٨٥) إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ الْخَلاقُ الْعَلِيمُ (٨٦)﴾ (And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth, and the Hour is surely coming. So turn away with a gracious turning away (85). Indeed, your Lord is the Creator, the All-Knowing (86).)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And We created all the creatures, the heaven thereof and the earth thereof, and what is in it and what is between them — by His word ﴿وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا﴾ (and what is between them) He means what is within the layers thereof — ﴿إِلا بِالْحَقِّ﴾ (except in truth). He says: only with justice and equity, not with injustice and arbitrariness. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by this only: that He did not wrong any of the communities whose accounts He has related in this sūrah, and the accounts of His destruction of them through what He did to them in hastening the vengeance upon them on account of their disbelief in Him, such that He would punish and destroy them without their deserving it. For He did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them with injustice and arbitrariness, but rather He created that with truth and justice.
And His word ﴿وَإِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لآتِيَةٌ فَاصْفَحِ الصَّفْحَ الْجَمِيلَ﴾ (and the Hour is surely coming; so turn away with a gracious turning away): the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And the Hour — and that is the Hour in which the Resurrection takes place — is surely coming. Be content with that regarding the polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people who have rejected you and who have repudiated the truth which you brought them. ﴿فَاصْفَحِ الصَّفْحَ الْجَمِيلَ﴾ (so turn away with a gracious turning away) means: turn away from them with a gracious turning away and forgive them.
