Al A‘rāf

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِاَيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَيَعْلَمُونَ

وَاُمْلِي لَهُمْ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ

182 . “And those who belie Our Signs, soon, step by step, We will draw them on from where they do not know.”
183 . “And I will grant them respite. Verily My devising is strong.”

In these couple of holy verses, one of the punishments of Allah (s.w.t) about many of the arrogant sinners has been stated which will be done upon them in the form of a ‘gradual punishment’. The derivation of the Arabic term /’istidrāj/ (consign to a gradual punishment) has been used in the Qur’ān in two verses. One of them is the verse under discussion, and the other is in Surah Al-Qalam, No. 68, verse 44, both of which are about the deniers of the Divine verses. Through the first verse, concerning the punishment of these beliers, whose lives will be interlaced, Allah says:

The same meaning is emphasized in the second verse. It implies that it is not such that Allah punishes these people at once and with precipitation. But He respites them sufficiently for admonishment and awareness. And, when they do not attend it, He will entangle them with some difficulties, because only those haste that are powerless and fear that they miss opportunities. The verse says:

But, Allah’s plots and punishments are so strong and exact that none is able to flee from them. The verse says:

This verse warns all sinners that they should take the postponement of Divine punishment as a reason neither for their own sanctity and uprightness, nor for the weakness and inability of Allah. They should not consider that the bounties and favours they enjoy are the signs of their nearness to Allah. It may happen that these bounties and victories that they receive become the preparation of the gradual punishment of Allah. The Lord grants them abundant favours and, by respiting them, He promotes them, but finally, He leaves them to fall down so intensively that there remains no trace from them and their whole entity and their history will be completely interlaced.

It is narrated from Imam Sādiq (as) who, upon the commentary of this verse, said:

“The purpose of this verse is a sinful person whom Allah gives a bounty and he counts it for his goodness, while it causes him to be neglectful of seeking forgiveness for the sin he has committed.” ¹