Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:63

(People ask you about the Hour)—that is, about the time of its establishment and occurrence. The polytheists used to ask him, peace be upon him, about that as a way of hastening it out of mockery; the hypocrites did so out of obstinacy; and the Jews did so as a test, for they knew from the Torah that it was among those things which Allah the Exalted had hidden. Thus, they would ask him, peace and blessings be upon him, to test him: would he agree with it by way of revelation or not?

(Say, "Its knowledge is only with Allah")—He, glory be to Him, does not disclose it to any near-stationed angel nor any sent prophet.

(And what will make you perceive?)—This is an independent address to him, peace and blessings be upon him, not included under the [previous] command. It is presented to explain that, while the Hour is unknown, its coming is to be expected soon. "Ma" (what) is an interrogative in the nominative position as an initial subject, and the sentence following it is the predicate. That is, "What thing could inform you of the time of its establishment?" The meaning is one of negation; that is, nothing at all could inform you of it.

(Perhaps the Hour is near)—that is, perhaps it will exist and come to pass in a near time. Qariban (near) is in the accusative case as an adverb of time, and its usage as such is frequent. Takunu (is/will be) is a complete verb [intransitive]. It is also permissible for it to be an incomplete verb [linking]; if qariban is the predicate and is considered a descriptor rather than an adverb, the masculine form is used because it was originally an adjective for a masculine predicate used to describe a feminine subject, and it is not the predicate itself—meaning, "Perhaps the Hour will be a near thing." It is also suggested that this is in observance of the meaning, given that "the Hour" (as-sa'ah) is in the sense of "the day" (al-yawm) or "the time" (al-waqt).

Abu Hayyan said: It is permissible that this is because the estimation is "perhaps the establishment of the Hour." Thus, the Hour was considered in takunu, so it was made feminine, and the omitted genitive idafa—which is "establishment"—was considered in qariban, so it was made masculine. Its distance [from the grammatical standard] is not hidden. It has been said that qarib (near), because it is of the fa'il structure, is equal for both masculine and feminine, as in His saying, exalted be He, "Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near (qarib) to the doers of good," and the discussion regarding that has already preceded. Within the speech lies a threat to those who mock and hasten it, and a rebuke to those who are obstinate and testing. The use of the noun [the Hour] in place of a pronoun is for the purpose of awe, increasing the degree of confirmation, and emphasizing the independence of the sentence, as has been indicated.