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qālū ʾa-wa-lam taku taʾtīkum rusulukum bi-l-bayyināti qālū balā qālū fa-dʿū wa-mā duʿāʾu l-kāfirīna ʾillā fī ḍalālin
They will say, ‘Had not your apostles brought you manifest proofs?’ They will say, ‘Yes.’ They will say, ‘Then invoke [Him] yourselves.’ But the invocations of the faithless only go awry.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Ghafir - Verse 50
50. They [keepers of Hell] will say: “Did there not come to you, your Messengers with miracles?” They will say: “Yes.” They will reply: “Then call [invoke God Almighty]! And the invocation of the disbelievers is nothing but in vain!”
Conversion to belief in God upon tasting Divine Wrath shall be of no avail, since repentance upon death shall be in vain. Upon drowning, Pharaoh repented his sins, but it was said unto him that now it will be of no use since you committed sins without repentance4. According to the blessed Verse in question, keepers of Hell will say:
“Now that you are entangled with Divine torment, you may invoke God Almighty as you wish; however, you are supposed to know that disbelievers’ invocations will not be answered and they will be in vain.
You confess that Divinely appointed Messengers came unto you with clear proofs and miracles, but you ignored them and disbelieved. Therefore, your invocations will be fruitless since God Almighty will never answer disbelievers’ prayers.”
A number of Qur’anic exegets maintain that the last sentence indicates that keepers of Hell say unto disbelievers:
“You may invoke God yourselves, since we are not supposed to invoke God Almighty without His Permission.”
The sentence demonstrates that when angels lack such permission, the gates to deliverance are all closed and disbelievers’ invocations will not be answered.
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