Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:47
And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.
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: and they seek to hasten you, O Muhammad—the polytheists of your people—with that which you promise them of the punishment of Allah on account of their associating partners with Him and their rejection of you in what you have brought them from Allah's side, in the worldly life. But Allah will never break His promise which He made to you concerning them—namely, that He would send down upon them His punishment and His vengeance. And He accomplished this, and fulfilled His promise to them, so that He killed them on the Day of Badr.
The exegetes differed concerning the day of which Allah, exalted is His praise, says: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ (And indeed, one day with your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count.) Which day is that? Some said: it is one of the days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth.
Mention is made of those who said that: Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ —he said: it is one of the days in which Allah created the heavens and the earth.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ... the entire āya—he said: this is the same as what is in (Alif-Lām-Mīm, the Revelation), it is identical, it is the same āya.
Others said: no, it is one of the days of the Hereafter.
Mention is made of those who said that: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the measure of the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection is a thousand years.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Saʿīd al-Jurayrī related to us, on the authority of Abū Naḍra, on the authority of Sumayr ibn Nahār, who said: Abū Hurayra said: the poor Muslims will enter the Garden (janna) before the rich, with a lead of half a day. I said: what is half a day? He said: do you not read the Qurʾān? I said: yes. He said: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ .
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ —he said: they are the days of the Hereafter.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said concerning this āya: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ —he said: these are the days of the Hereafter. And as for the words: ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ —he said: the Day of Resurrection. And he recited: إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيدًا * وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيبًا .
There is also disagreement concerning the reason why the text was turned from the mention of those who sought to hasten the punishment to the mention of the length of the day with Allah. Some said: the people hastened the punishment in the worldly life, whereupon Allah revealed: وَلَنْ يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ —that He would send down what He had promised them of punishment in the worldly life. And one day with your Lord, of their punishment in the worldly life and the Hereafter, is like a thousand years of your counting in the worldly life.
Others said: this was said thus in order to inform those who sought to hasten the punishment that He does not hasten, but rather grants respite until a term which He has appointed, and that what seems slow to them is near with Him. He said to them: the measure of one day with Me is a thousand years of the years which you, this people, count; and that is slow with you, but near with Me.
Yet others said: the meaning is: one day of the severest tribulation and of what is dreaded is like a thousand years.
The second opinion is to me the most plausible as the correct one; that is because Allah, exalted is His mention, informed about the polytheists' seeking to hasten against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding the punishment, then informed about the magnitude of one day with Him, and then followed it with His words: وَكَأَيِّنْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ —wherein He informed about His granting respite to the people of the unjust town, and His refraining from striking them hastily with the punishment. By this He made clear that by the words: وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ He intends to remove the notion of haste from Himself, and to describe Himself with patience and forbearance. Since this is so, the interpretation of the words is: one day of the days with Allah—the Day of Resurrection—one day equal to a thousand years of your counting. And that is not far with Him, while it is far with you. Therefore He does not hasten the punishment of whomever He wills to punish, until the measure of his term is reached.
