Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:37

(He said: "Then you are of the respited.")

That is: you are of their number, and organized within their ranks. Some eminent scholars have said: The arrival of the response as a nominal sentence, while simultaneously encompassing the inclusion of what the other asked for—in a manner indicating that the asker is a follower of them in that regard—is evidence that it is an announcement of the respite already ordained for them, not an initiation of a specific respite for him as an answer to his prayer. That is: you are of the number of those whose appointed times have been deferred from eternity, as required by the wisdom of creation.

Thus, the fa (in fa-innaka) is for connecting the announcement of the respite to the request for respite, as in the saying: "If You show mercy, You are worthy of that; and if You cast away, who else will show mercy?" It is not for connecting the respite itself to his request. Furthermore, his request for respite was for the deferral of death, for through that his belonging to their number is realized, not for the deferral of punishment, as has been said. To place him in the ranks of those whose punishment has been deferred until the Hereafter in the knowledge of Allah (Exalted is He)—from among the Jinn who preceded and the two species (Jinn and Mankind) who followed—does not befit the context of requesting respite alongside continued life. Moreover, that deferral is already known from the attribution of the "Day" to the "Recompense," whereas in the request, it was attributed to the "Resurrection."

It is also said: The fa is linked, like the first fa, to an elliptical [preceding phrase], and the speech is an answer to him in a general sense, meaning: "Since you have supplicated to Me, then you are of the respited."