Tafseer of The Emissaries · Al-Mursalaat · 77:17
Then We will follow them with the later ones.
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.
And His word: لِأَيِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ (For what Day is it deferred). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says this while filling His servants with amazement at the terror of that Day and the severity thereof: For what Day have the messengers been deferred and a time appointed for them — how awesome and how terrible it is! Then He made that clear, and what kind of Day is it? He said: it is deferred لِيَوْمِ الْفَصْلِ (until the Day of Separation). He says: until the Day on which Allah pronounces judgment among His creatures and makes separation, so that He takes retribution for the wronged one from the wrongdoer, and rewards the doer of good for his good deed and requites the doer of evil for his evil deed.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: لِأَيِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ لِيَوْمِ الْفَصْلِ (For what Day is it deferred? Until the Day of Separation) — the Day on which separation is made among the people according to their deeds, [some] to the Garden (janna) and [others] to the Fire (al-nār).
And His word: وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ (And what makes you know what the Day of Separation is?). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says this to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And what thing has made you know, O Muḥammad, what the Day of Separation is — whereby He magnifies its matter and emphasizes the severity of the terror thereof.
As Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ (And what makes you know what the Day of Separation is?) — as a glorification of that Day.
And His word: وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ (Woe on that Day to the deniers). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: the valley that flows in Hell (jahannam) from the pus (ṣadīd) of its inhabitants is for the deniers of the Day of Separation.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ (Woe on that Day to the deniers) — a woe, by Allah, that lasts long.
The statement concerning the interpretation of the word of the Exalted: ﴿أَلَمْ نُهْلِكِ الْأَوَّلِينَ (١٦) ثُمَّ نُتْبِعُهُمُ الْآخِرِينَ (١٧) كَذَلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِالْمُجْرِمِينَ (١٨) وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ (١٩)﴾ (Did We not destroy the former peoples? (16) Then We make the later ones follow them. (17) Thus do We deal with the criminals. (18) Woe on that Day to the deniers. (19)).
The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: Did We not destroy the bygone communities, who denied My messengers and rejected My signs — such as the people of Nūḥ, and ʿĀd and Thamūd — and then make the later ones after them follow them, namely those who walked their path in disbelief in Me and in My messenger, such as the people of Ibrāhīm and the people of Lūṭ and the inhabitants of Madyan, so that We destroy them as We destroyed the former ones before them? كَذَلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِالْمُجْرِمِينَ (Thus do We deal with the criminals). He says: just as We destroyed these on account of their disbelief in Me and their denial of My messengers, so is My established way (sunna) with their like among the disbelieving communities, that We destroy the criminals on account of their crimes when they transgress their bounds and commit wrong. وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ (Woe on that Day to the deniers) of the reports of Allah that We have mentioned in this verse, those who deny His power to do what He wills.
