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bali s-sāʿatu mawʿiduhum wa-s-sāʿatu ʾadhā wa-ʾamarru
Indeed, the Hour is their tryst; and the Hour will be most calamitous and bitter.
— Ali Quli Qarai
54Al-QamarالقمرVerse 46 of 55
The Moon54. Al-Qamarالقمر
al-Qamar
The Moon
MeccanVerse 46 of 55
Surah al-Qamar - Verses 45-46
45. Their multitude will be put to flight soon and they will show their backs unto each other.
46. Nay, but the Day of Resurrection is their appointed time and that Day will be more grievous and bitterer.
In order to refute their false claims, the blessed Verses in question decisively predicts them so that they know that their multitude will be soon defeated and they will show their back. It would of interest to know that the verbal form sayuhzamu ("they will be soon defeated") originally denotes pressing a dried up object such that it is shattered but it is figuratively employed in the sense of defeating and shattering hosts. The expression may allude to the point that although they seem to be unified but they are inflexible and may be shattered by a heavy pressure. Au contraire, believers are unified but flexible and may thereby resists hardships and vicissitudes.
It is also worthy of note that the Arabic word dubur ("rear") is the opposite of qubul ("front") and the former is herein employed to indicate show one's back in battlefield. Such prediction realized in battles like Badr and finally the seemingly mighty hosts of disbelievers were defeated and put to flight. The second blessed Verse is saying that defeat and misfortune do not fall into their share in this world but their appointed place shall be the Day of Resurrection when more horrible and bitterer chastisements shall be in store for them. Thus, they should await a bitter defeat in this world and a bitterer and more horrible defeat in the Hereafter.
The superlative adjective adha
("more grievous")
connotes that they shall be entangled with an incurable affliction. Finally, it is known that one of the aspects of the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an is inclusion of news of the Unseen an instance of which is to be found in the blessed Verse in question. Is such news from the Unseen with such decisiveness and explicitness not regarded as a miracle?