Tafsir of Maryam 19:39

"And warn them of the Day of Regret..."

"And warn them" (that is, the wrongdoers, according to the apparent meaning. Abu Hayyan said: The pronoun refers to all people, meaning warn them all).

"The Day of Regret": The day when the wrongdoers will feel regret for what they neglected regarding Allah the Exalted. It is said: It refers to all people, including the regret of the righteous for their lack of righteousness.

"When the matter is decided": That is, when the judgment is finalized, the people of Paradise have gone to Paradise, the people of the Fire have gone to the Fire, death has been slaughtered, and each of the two groups has been called to abide eternally. Al-Suddi and Ibn Jurayj confined the meaning to the slaughtering of death, which is consistent with what is narrated in the Two Sahihs and al-Tirmidhi from Abu Sa'id, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Death will be brought in the form of a piebald ram. A herald will call out: 'O people of Paradise!' They will stretch their necks and look. He will say: 'Do you recognize this?' They will say: 'Yes, this is death,' for they have all seen it. Then a herald will call out: 'O people of the Fire!' They will stretch their necks and look. He will say: 'Do you recognize this?' They will say: 'Yes, this is death,' for they have all seen it. Then it will be slaughtered between Paradise and the Fire. Then it will be said: 'O people of Paradise, eternity and no death; and O people of the Fire, eternity and no death.'" Then he recited: "And warn them of the Day of Regret..."

In a narration from Ibn Mas'ud, the Day of Regret is when the disbelievers see their places in Paradise had they been believers. It is said: It is when it is said to them while they are in the Fire, "Depart into it and do not speak to Me." It is also said: When it is said, "But stand apart today, O criminals."

Al-Dahhak said: That is when Hell is brought forth and shows its fury. It is said: The intent is the Day of Resurrection in general, as narrated from Ibn Zayd. It contains regrets in numerous instances; hence it is said that the regret refers to the genus of regret, including their regret regarding what was mentioned, their regret when receiving the records in their left hands, and so on. The intent by "the matter is decided" is the complete conclusion of the affairs of the worldly life, and the time of this is considered to be extended. It is said: The intent of the Day of Regret is the Day of Resurrection, as narrated from Ibn Zayd, except that the intent of "the matter is decided" is the completion of that which necessitates regret. Ibn Atiyyah permitted that the Day of Regret could encompass the day of death. You know that the apparent meaning of the aforementioned Hadith, as well as others—as is not hidden from the seeker—establishes that the Day of Regret is the day when death is slaughtered and eternity is proclaimed. Perhaps the specification is because the regret on that day is the greatest of regrets, for there, hopes are severed and the door of salvation from terrors is closed. Among the strange things said is that the intent of "the matter is decided" is the closing of the door of repentance when the sun rises from the west, but this is baseless. "When" (id) in all these views is a substitute for "the Day" or is connected to the regret. The definite verbal noun acts upon the explicit object according to some, so how much more so upon the adverb of time?

"While they are in heedlessness and they do not believe."

Al-Zamakhshari said: This is connected to His (Exalted is His majesty) saying, "in clear error," narrated from al-Hasan. The reasoning is that the two sentences occupy the position of a state (hal) for the hidden pronoun in the prepositional phrase (i.e., they are settled in that state, and they are in these two conditions). In al-Kashf, it is suggested that it is a conjunction to His (the Exalted) saying: "The wrongdoers are in clear error," meaning they are in error and they are in heedlessness. Under both views, the sentence "And warn them" is parenthetical, and the "wa" (and) is for interruption. The justification for the interruption is that the warning confirms the state of heedlessness and error they are in. It is also permitted that it be connected to "warn them" as a state of the object, meaning: warn them while they are heedless and not believing. However, this does not align with His (the Exalted) saying: "You are only a warner to those who fear it." In al-Kashf, it is said that this objection is invalid because that refers to benefit, while this refers to alerting the heedless to clarify that benefit is in the Hereafter, which is the function of all the Prophets (peace be upon them). Furthermore, even if granted, there is no contradiction, as in His (the Exalted) saying: "And remind, for indeed the reminder benefits the believers." How can there be when this meaning has been repeated in the Quran up to His (the Exalted) saying: "That you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless." As for the claim that His (the Exalted) saying, "and they do not believe," is a confirmed negation covering both past and future, it is not conceded if it were a state. If conceded, the answer has been learned from what preceded, and "there is not upon the Messenger except the notification." Indeed, we do not deny that the first view is more sound and more strictly in accordance with the context. The gist of the meaning according to the latter is: warn them because they are in a state where they need the warning.