Tafseer of The Prophets · Al-Anbiyaa · 21:40
Rather, it will come to them unexpectedly and bewilder them, and they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be reprieved.
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, exalted be His praise, says: This fire that scorches the faces of these unbelievers whose condition has been described in this sura will not come to them with foreknowledge on their part of its timing; rather, it will overtake them suddenly while they are unaware of it — it will then confound them, that is to say: it overtakes them unexpectedly and scorches their faces while they are looking at it, just as someone confounds another to his face with something after which the confounded one is left as one bewildered.
فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ رَدَّهَا — "And they are not able to repel it." He says: when it overtakes them and confounds them, they are not able to drive it away from themselves.
وَلَا هُمْ يُنْظَرُونَ — "Nor are they granted respite." He says: even though they are not able to drive it away from themselves, they are also not granted any respite from the punishment by it on account of a repentance they display or a returning [to Allah] that they make — for that is not the moment of action and not the hour of repentance and returning; rather, it is the hour of requital and recompense.
