Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:55

(And on the day the Hour is established)—that is, the Resurrection. It was named as such because it occurs at the last of the hours of the world, or because it occurs suddenly. It has become a proper noun for it by dominance (al-ghalab), like an-Najm (the Star) for the Pleiades, and al-Kawakib (the Planets) for Venus. The intended meaning of its establishment is its existence, or the rising of the creatures therein.

(The criminals will swear they did not remain)—that is, they did not reside in the graves, as narrated from al-Kalbi and Muqatil. The meaning of this is their residency after death.

(Other than an hour)—that is, a small portion of time. More than one narrator reported from Qatada that they mean they did not remain in the world except for an hour. The first opinion is preferred as it is the most apparent, because their stay is delimited by the Day of Resurrection, as will come later (if Allah wills), and their stay in the world is not delimited in that manner. It has been said: they mean they did not remain in the interval between the destruction of the world and the Resurrection, which is the period between the two trumpet blasts. In the authentic Hadith, Abu Hurairah said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah grant him blessings and peace) said: "Between the two blasts is forty." It was asked: "Forty days, O Abu Hurairah?" He said: "I refuse to specify." It was asked: "Forty months?" He said: "I refuse." It was asked: "Forty years?" He said: "I refuse." By his saying, "I refuse," he meant: I refrain from clarifying that to you, or I refuse to have asked the Prophet (may Allah grant him blessings and peace) about it. Due to this Hadith, it is said that it is not known whether it is forty years or forty thousand years. As-Saffarini narrated in al-Buhur az-Zakhira from some that there is a claim of consensus among the narrations that the interval between the two blasts is forty years, but I say: The truth is that no one knows it except Allah the Exalted, and I have not found any evidence to support the claim of consensus.

Az-Zamakhshari mentioned that this is a time during which their punishment is interrupted, and they deemed their period of stay insignificant, either out of lying—as reported from al-Kalbi—or due to forgetfulness caused by the terror of the scene, as has been said. It is permissible that their deeming of that period as insignificant is relative to the duration of their punishment on that day, and it is not unlikely that they know this duration, whether this statement is made at the beginning of the gathering, during it, or after entering the Fire. It is also permissible that they counted their period of stay as an hour because they did not benefit from it, and much without benefit is little, just as a little with benefit is much. Thus, the speech is an expression of regret and sorrow over their squandering of the days of their lives.

Between "the Hour" (as-Sa'ah) and "an hour" (sa'ah) is a perfect identical paronomasia (jinās), as the rhetoricians have agreed, except for those whose opinion is not counted. The difference in the grammatical inflection does not harm this, nor does the existence of the definite article (al) in one of the two words, because it is an addition to the word. Similarly, it does not harm that their referents are originally identical, because the definite word in this context is treated as an indefinite one—meaning a piece of time—due to its transformation in the definite form and its becoming a proper noun for the Resurrection, like other transferred proper nouns. Taking one from the other also does not harm, as is clarified by what they have established regarding derivational paronomasia. Some thought that "the Hour" in the context of Resurrection is metaphorical, and therefore denied the paronomasia here, for such paronomasia cannot exist between a literal and a metaphorical meaning. There is no paronomasia, for example, in "I rode a donkey (himaran)" and "I met a donkey (himaran) wearing a turban," meaning a stupid man.

It is famous that this type of paronomasia did not occur in the Noble Quran except in this place. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar (may mercy be upon him) deduced another instance, which is His saying: "The flash of His lightning almost takes away the eyesight (al-absar)... Allah alternates the night and the day; indeed in that is a lesson for those with eyesight (uli al-absar)." He argued that the first al-absar is the plural of basar (physical sight), while the second al-absar is intended to be the plural of basirah (insight). This was contested by stating that even if the second absar is intended to be the plural of basirah, it is not a literal usage but a metaphorical and borrowed one, because basirah is not pluralized as absar but as basa'ir. The scholars of Arabic have stated: The pattern af'al from the plurals of scarcity only applies to three-letter nouns with an open fa' (like basar and absar), an accented fa' (like 'inab and a'nab), or a closed fa' (like rutab and artab) with a quiescent 'ayn (like thawb and athwab), or a movable one, or like 'adud and a'dad and fakhdh and afkhadh. The pattern fa'a'il from the plurals of abundance only applies to a four-letter noun that is feminine by the ta' or by meaning, with the third letter being a long vowel, such as sahabah and saha'ib, basirah and basa'ir, halubah and hala'ib, shamal and shama'il, ajuz and aja'iz, and Sa'id as a female proper name and Sa'a'id. Therefore, absar was borrowed for basa'ir based on the commonality of perception and discernment between them. You have heard that this type of paronomasia cannot occur between a literal and a metaphorical meaning, so let this be preserved.

(Like that)—that is, like that lying—(they were)—that is, in the world—(deluded 55)—that is, diverted from truth and reality. The purpose of presenting the verse is to exaggerate the description of the criminals in their persistence in denial and insistence on falsehood, or "like that lying they were deluded" in their deception by what has now become clear to them was only an hour. Thus, the speech is intended to express wonder at their being deceived by the mirage, and the goal is to make the enjoyments and ornaments of the world seem contemptible to them so that they might desist from their obstinacy and return to the path of righteousness. It is as if it were said: Like that astonishing kind of lying, they were deluded in the world, deceived by what they counted as an hour, deeming it short. The one diverting them is Allah the Exalted, or Satan, or whim. Regardless, it is only due to their poor choice and the corruption of their disposition. In the verse, according to one opinion, is evidence for the occurrence of lying in the Hereafter on the part of the disbelievers.

Some have used this as evidence to deny the punishment of the grave, but it is baseless.