Al Ḥijr

قَالَ رَبّ‌ِ فَاَنظِرْنِي إِلَي يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنظَرِينَ

إِلَي يَوْمِ الْوَقْتِ الْمَعْلُومِ

36. “(’Iblis) said: ‘O’ Lord! Respite me then till the day when they are raised?”
37. “Said He: ‘Then verily you are of the respited ones’.”
38. “Till the day of the appointed time.”

As ’Iblis found himself an outcast from the threshold of the Allah’s court and felt that man’s creation caused his misfortune, the flames of hatred started within him so as to take vengeance on the sons of Adam. It was why, as the verse says:

“(’Iblis) said: ‘O’ Lord! Respite me then till the day when they are raised?”

This the Satan asked not for the sake of repenting, or for the sake of regretting as to what he had done, seeking to compensate for everything, but rather in order to continue his obstinacy, hostility, and his stiff-neckedness. So did Allah accept this request of ’Iblis. The verse says:

“Said He: ‘Then verily you are of the respited ones’.”

However, this respite does not extend in time as far as the Day of Judgment on which all mankind will be raised, as ’Iblis requested, but for ‘a definite time’. The verse says:

“Till the day of the appointed time.”

The objective in mind when mentioning

is the end of this world and the rolling up of the designated duration of the duties.