Tafsir of Ash-Shura 42:18

{Those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it} out of denial and mockery. They used to say: "When will it be? If only it had already occurred, so that it might become clear to us whether the state we are upon is the truth, or the state that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his companions are upon."

{And those who believe are fearful of it}—that is, they fear it while being deeply concerned with it. For ishfaq (fearful concern) is a concern intermixed with fear. When it is used with the preposition min (from), as is the case here, the meaning of fear is more apparent; and when it is used with ‘ala (for/over), the meaning of concern is more apparent. Their concern for it is due to their anticipation of the reward.

Al-Jalabi claimed that the verse contains ihtibak (ellipsis/omission), and that the original structure is: "Those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it, and they do not fear it; while those who believe in it are fearful of it, and they do not seek to hasten it." They know that it is the truth—the matter that is verified and bound to happen without fail.

{Unquestionably, those who dispute concerning the Hour}—that is, they argue about it. Its origin comes from the phrase "I squeezed the camel's udder," meaning to manipulate it for milking. The application of "dispute" (mumara) to argumentation is because each of the disputants extracts what is with the other. It is also possible that it is derived from miryah, which is hesitation in a matter; this is more specific than doubt. The sense of reciprocity (mufa'ala) is not intended; thus, the meaning is that those who hesitate regarding the Hour and doubt it {are in extreme error}, far removed from the truth. For the resurrection is the closest of all absent things to the perceptible, as it is known from the possibility of reviving the earth after its death and other such signs. Therefore, whoever is not guided to this is even further removed from being guided to what lies beyond it.