Tafseer of The Prophets · Al-Anbiyaa · 21:46
And if [as much as] a whiff of the punishment of your Lord should touch them, they would surely say, "O woe to us! Indeed, we have been wrongdoers."
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 is His praise, says: And if these people who seek to hasten the punishment, O Muḥammad, are touched by even a breath (nafḥa) of the punishment of your Lord — by "breath" He means the share and the portion — according to their expression: "Nufāḥa fulānun li-fulānin min ʿaṭāʾihi" (so-and-so granted another a share of his gift), when he gave him a part or portion of the money.
As Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَلَئِن مَّسَّتْهُمْ نَفْحَةٌ مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّكَ — the entire verse —: he said: if a punishment touches them.
As for His word لَيَقُولُنَّ يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ : He says: if this breath of the punishment of your Lord touches them, O Muḥammad, because of their denial of you and their unbelief (kufr), then at that moment they will know the consequences of their denial of you, and they will acknowledge against themselves the favor of Allah and His beneficence toward them and their ingratitude for His gifts to them, and they will say: Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers in our worship of the gods and the equals, and in our neglect of the worship of Allah Who created us and bestowed His grace upon us, and in placing worship in the wrong place.
