Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:33
Do the disbelievers await [anything] except that the angels should come to them or there comes the command of your Lord? Thus did those do before them. And Allah wronged them not, but they had been wronging themselves.
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.
Allah the Exalted says: Do these polytheists (mushrikīn) only wait for the moment when the angels come to them to take away their souls, or that the command of your Lord comes to gather them for the standing-place of the Day of Resurrection? كَذَلِكَ فَعَلَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ — Allah the Exalted says: just as these act in their awaiting of the angels of Allah who come to receive their souls, or the coming of the command of Allah, so too did their predecessors among those who disbelieved in Allah act — for this applies to every polytheist (mushrik). وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللَّهُ — Allah the Exalted says: Allah did them no wrong by causing His wrath to descend upon them. وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ — by disobeying their Lord and denying Him (kufr), until they deserved His punishment, and He hastened it for them.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the interpreters of the Scripture also spoke.
Mention of who said this:
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ: he said: "with death." And he said concerning another verse: وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ يَتَوَفَّى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الْمَلائِكَةُ — and that is the angel of death, who has envoys. Allah the Exalted said: أَوْ يَأْتِيَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ — "that is the Day of Resurrection."
Al-Muthanná related to me; he said: Abū Ḥudhayfah informed us; he said: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلا أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ — he said: "at death, when they receive their souls, or that the command of your Lord comes — that is the Day of Resurrection."
