Tafsir of Hud 11:104

"And We do not delay it"—that is, that Day, which is observed by way of gathering and witnessing. Al-Ḥūfī reported that the pronoun refers to the requital (al-jazāʾ). Al-Aʿmash and Yaʿqūb read it as yuʾakhkhiruhu with the [prefix] yāʾ.

"Except for a numbered term"—meaning until the end of a short duration. The "numbering" (al-ʿadd) is a metonymy for brevity, though it may also be interpreted as a metonymy for finitude. The "term" (al-ajal) is an expression for the entire duration specified for a thing, though it is sometimes applied to its end. The intention of that [end] here has been prohibited, because it is not described as "numbered" in their speech in any way. Some have permitted it, based on the principle that it is not a condition for metonymy that the original meaning be possible; however, this is countered by the argument that it constitutes a departure from the apparent meaning, and assuming an implied possessive (idāfah) is easier than that.

The lām [in li-ajalin] is for the purpose of specification (tawqīt). In al-Majmaʿ, it is stated that it indicates the purpose, and that wisdom necessitated the delay; for this reason, the preposition ilā (unto) was avoided in favor of it. The verse contains a refutation of the Dahrites (materialists) and the philosophers who claim that there is no end to the duration of the world, and this is a settled matter.