Tafseer van at-Tabari

Tafseer of The Prophets · Al-Anbiyaa · 21:39

لَوْ يَعْلَمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ حِينَ لَا يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ ٱلنَّارَ وَلَا عَن ظُهُورِهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

If those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not avert the Fire from their faces or from their backs and they will not be aided...

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.

Tabari (1 passage)

Full Dutch translation of Tabari's text
Allah, exalted be His praise, says: If these unbelievers who seek to hasten the punishment of their Lord only knew what trial awaits them when the Fire scorches their faces and they sit therein with grimacing lips — without being able to ward off from their faces the Fire that scorches their faces, nor to repel it from their backs by their own strength — وَلَا هُمْ يُنْصَرُونَ — "and they will not be helped."
He says: and there is none who will help them, none who will rescue them at that moment from Allah's punishment — because of their persistence in unbelief (kufr) toward Allah — then they would surely hasten to show repentance and to believe in Allah, and they would surely not have hastened the calamity upon themselves.
Show original Arabic
يقول تعالى ذكره: لو يعلم هؤلاء الكفار المستعجلون عذاب ربهم ماذا لهم من البلاء حين تلفح وجوههم النار، وهم فيها كالحون، فلا يكفون عن وجوههم النار التي تلفحها، ولا عن ظهورهم فيدفعونها عنها بأنفسهم ( وَلا هُمْ يُنْصَرُونَ ). يقول: ولا لهم ناصر ينصرهم، فيستنقذهم حينئذ من عذاب الله لما أقاموا على ما هم عليه مقيمون من الكفر بالله، ولسارعوا إلى التوبة منه والإيمان بالله، ولما استعجلوا لأنفسهم البلاء.