Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:47

(And they urge you to hasten the punishment) — the pronoun refers to the Quraish. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to warn them of the punishment of God Almighty and threaten them with its arrival. They would deny this with the utmost denial and demand its arrival in mockery and to render him (peace be upon him) incapable. So, He denied their behavior; thus, the sentence is a report in wording, yet an interrogation and initiation in meaning.

His saying, (And God will never fail in His promise), is a circumstantial clause brought forward to demonstrate the nullity of their denial of the punishment amidst their urging for it. It is as if it were said: "How can you deny the arrival of the promised punishment, when it is the case that He Almighty does not fail in His promise, and the promise has already preceded, so its arrival is inevitable?" Alternatively, it is an intercalary clause for what was mentioned as well.

His saying, (And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of what you count) is an inaugural sentence if the previous one is circumstantial, or a coordinated one if it is intercalary. It was brought forth to confirm the rejection of their urging and to clarify their error by stating the perfection of His scope (the Exalted) and by exposing the extreme narrowness of their comprehension, which entails that a short duration to Him (Almighty) is a long duration to them—just as His saying states: (Indeed, they see it as distant, but We see it as near). For this reason, they see its arrival [as remote] and take it as a pretext to deny their urging for it, unaware that the standard for measuring all matters, whether in occurrence or in report, is the magnitude with Him.

The reading of the two brothers and Ibn Kathir, "they count" (ya‘uddūn), in the third-person form—meaning the ones who urge for it count [the time]—is more consistent with this meaning. Although the address in the reading of the majority has been made towards them as well by way of apostrophe (iltifāt), the outward appearance is that it is directed to the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the believers who are with him.

It is said: The intent by His promise (Almighty) is what was fixed for the destruction of every nation, a specified time and a named term, as in His saying: (They urge you to hasten the punishment; and if not for a specified term, the punishment would have come to them). Thus, the first sentence is an absolute declaration of the nullity of urging for it, by stating the impossibility of its arrival before its promised time. The latter sentence is an explanation of its nullity by showing that it is built upon viewing what is short to Him (Almighty) as long, according to the aforementioned approach. In this case, the noble structure would contain no confrontation of their denial of its arrival, which they concealed under the act of urging; rather, it suffices in refuting that by explaining the end of those who preceded them, who were like them.

In any case, the punishment urged for is the worldly punishment; it is what the preceding and the context demand. It is also said that the intent is the punishment of the Hereafter, and the "day" mentioned refers to the day of that punishment, and its perception as long due to its intensity. For the days of sorrow are felt as long, and the days of joy are felt as short, as it is said: "Enjoy the days of pleasure, for they are short; and the days of sorrows are long."

According to this, the first sentence refutes their denial of the arrival of the punishment, and the second sentence rebukes them for urging it, even if done by way of mockery. It is as if it were said: "How can you deny its arrival when the promise has already passed, and God Almighty will never fail in His promise, so it must arrive, and you are urging for it? And a single day of His days, due to its severity, is seen as a thousand years of what you count." The same is said regarding the view that the "day" refers to one of the days of the Hereafter, for they are considered long, or that they are perceived as long due to the intensity of their torment. It was objected that this is not supported by the preceding or the context.

Al-Farra' said: The verse encompasses the punishment of the world and the Hereafter. The punishment urged for is meant to be the worldly punishment, meaning: God Almighty will not fail in His promise to bring down punishment upon you in the world, and indeed one day of the days of your punishment in the Hereafter is like a thousand years of the years of the world. This is not without merit, although it possesses a distance [from the primary meaning], as is not hidden.

The Mu'tazila argued using His saying: (God will never fail in His promise) that God (Sublime is He) does not forgive the sinners, because the "promise" here means "threat" (wa'īd), and He (Sublime is He) has informed that He does not fail in it. Forgiveness necessitates a failure in the promise, which entails falsehood—an impossibility for Him (Almighty).

The Sunnis replied that the threats against ordinary sinners are either initiations or reports regarding their deservedness of what they were threatened with, not about its execution; or they are reports of its execution conditional upon the absence of pardon, and the abandonment of stating the condition explicitly is for the sake of increased intimidation. The threats against the disbelievers are not like this, for they are purely reports of execution, not conditional upon anything at all, like the promises made to the believers. The reason for this distinction is to reconcile the verses. You know that the outward meaning of this is that the threats of worldly punishment against disbelievers are like their threats of Hereafter punishment—neither is subject to non-occurrence, so it is not permissible to pardon their punishment at all once it is promised. In my view, there is hesitation regarding the equating of the two matters. From this, the state of this answer becomes known, assuming the punishment in the verse is carried to mean worldly punishment—which is more appropriate for the context—and the "promise" refers to the promise of that [punishment].

Some responded here by saying that the intent of His promise (Almighty) is the respite and delay, and it is the counterpart to the threat in the view of the one being granted respite. There is no disagreement that God Almighty does not fail in a "promise" (a commitment) which is the counterpart of a "threat," and that what is conveyed by the threat is a pure report with no condition in it. It is also said: The intent is His promise (Almighty) to His Prophet (peace be upon him) to bring down the punishment they were urging for upon them; this is a counterpart to the threat in the sense that it contains good for him (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no obstacle to one thing being both good and evil relative to two different people; it has been said: "The misfortunes of some people are, for others, benefits." In this case, the Mu'tazila have no evidence in the verse for their claim.