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wa-law yuʾākhidhu llāhu n-nāsa bi-ẓulmihim mā taraka ʿalayhā min dābbatin wa-lākin yuʾakhkhiruhum ʾilā ʾajalin musamman fa-ʾidhā jāʾa ʾajaluhum lā yastaʾkhirūna sāʿatan wa-lā yastaqdimūna
Were Allah to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave any living being upon it. But He respites them until a specified time; so when their time comes they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 61
61. “And if Allah were to take people to task for their inequity, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving being, but He respites them until an appointed time; so, when their term comes, they can not delay (it) an hour nor (yet) can they advance (it).”
The general rule of Allah is the postponement of the punishment, but it sometimes happens that He teaches the oppressors a lesson so as to provide instruction for others such as whatever happened to the nation of Lot, Noah, and Thamūd. This respite provided by Allah is for the sake of repentance and compensation for one’s sins and is based on His favour. Hence, do not become arrogant because of it. Anyway, after discussing about the terrible crimes of the Arab pagans through previous verses in connection with the evil innovations they committed and the crime of burying alive of their own daughters, some may raise this question as to why is it that Allah does not immediately punish the culprit subjects with all these oppressions, and abhor-able crimes?
This very verse in question seeks to provide an answer to this question implying: If Allah were to punish people for the oppressive offences which they commit, no moving object will survive throughout the earth. The verse says:
“And if Allah were to take people to task for their inequity, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving being…”
The Arabic term /dabbah/ refers to whatever moving and living animal there is. It may, here, allude to ‘human beings’ metaphorically by procuring the symmetrical dimensions to it which in this case is /‘al a zulmihim/ (for their inequity). That is, were Allah to question human beings with regard to their tyranny, there would remain no mankind throughout the earth. This possibility also exists that by this, all moving objects is meant, for, we know that such beings are generally created for the sake of human beings, as the Qur’an says:
“It is He Who has created for you all that is in the earth.” 1
Once mankind is perished altogether, the rationale for the existence of other living objects on the earth will also be nonexistent, and their entire generation will be exterminated. This question may be raised in here that if we look closely at the generalization and at the comprehensiveness of the significance of the verse, the result will be that no one exists on the earth except those who are oppressors and everybody has had his share of committing cruelties.
So if the punishment is to be administered rapidly, no one will be excluded. Nevertheless, we know that not only the prophets and the Imams who are immaculate and thus not subjected to such punishments, for this rule does not apply to them, but also there are certain devout people and people of true faith whose good deeds surely excel as compared to their petty sins, thus they do certainly not fall into this category of fitting for the extermination as a way of being punished.
The answer to this question lies in the fact that the verse provides a typical verdict which is not to be regarded as a universal or general verdict. The proof for such an exception is provided in verse 32 of Surah Fatir, No. 35 which declares:
“Then We gave the Book for an inheritance to those whom We chose from among Our servants; but of them is he who makes his soul to suffer a loss, and of them is he who takes a middle course, and of them is he who is foremost in deeds of goodness by Allah’s permission; this is the great excellence.”
According to this verse, the people are divided into 3 groups: The oppressive group, the moderate group, who have committed light sins, and the group who are counted good people; that is, those who are categorized as pioneers of whatever is good and acceptable. Certainly, out of these three groups only the first one is subject to the rule expressed in the verse under discussion and neither the second nor the third ones can be categorized and included. And, since the first group usually constitutes the majority of the people of the societies, making mention of such a generalization is not surprising at all.
Then the Qur’an makes mention of this point that Allah provides all oppressors with a respite for a certain amount of time until their nominal death (certain limited time), thus delaying their death time. However, as their death approaches, no advancing nor delaying for the least time will occur. By contrast, their death will take place at that exact date which will neither come in advance nor in retardation. The verse says:
“…but He respites them until an appointed time; so, when their term comes, they can not delay (it) an hour nor (yet) can they advance (it).”
As for the significance of the phrase: /’ajalin musamm a/ (an appointed time), the commentators have expressed various ideas. However, with regard to other verses of the Qur’an, including verse 2 of the Surah Al-’An‘am, No. 6 and verse 34 of Surah Al-’A‘raf, No. 7 it seems that the purpose is to be the arrival of death itself. That is, Allah respites people until the end of their lifetime in order to complete the argument, so that haply the oppressors try to reform themselves, reconstructing their life experiences, and thus returning to Allah, the truth and justice.
When this respite expires, the order as to their death will be issued, and just from that very moment their punishments and retributions start.
Footnotes