Tafsir of Al-Munafiqun 63:11

"And never will Allah delay a soul"—meaning, and never will He grant it respite—"when its appointed time comes"—meaning, the end of its life, or the expiration of the time extended for it from the beginning of its life to its end, according to the interpretation of the 'appointed time' (ajal) as such.

"And Allah is Acquainted with what you do."

He will recompense you for it. Abu Bakr recited it with a ya (third-person prefix), to align with what precedes it regarding the third-person address.

"A soul" (nafsan) is in the accusative case because it is an indefinite noun in a context of negation, which carries a collective meaning. Al-Kiya inferred from His saying, "And spend [in the way of Allah]..." until the end of the verse, the obligation to pay Zakat immediately, prohibiting its delay. It is attributed to Al-Zamakhshari that he said: "There is no warning against negligence regarding these rights greater than this; for no one delays them except that it is possible for death to come upon him shortly, so he is obligated to take extreme caution against this negligence at all times."

Allah the Exalted has refuted the claim of the Mujbira (determinists) from several angles:

1. His saying, "And spend..."
2. If it were before the approach of death, he would not have been able to spend; so how could he wish for the delay of the appointed time?
3. His saying, "And never will Allah delay..." as a response to despair of him; had he not been a free agent, the response would have been that the delay and death were equivalent at the time of the wish.

It has been countered that the People of Truth (Sunnis) do not hold the view of compulsion (jabr), so the debate is irrelevant to them. Furthermore, there is no proof in the first [point]—as is the case with all other commandments—as has been established in its proper place. The wish itself, which is the cornerstone of their argument, cannot be used as proof. The despair-inducing statement is a refutation of their wish, not a response to it, as there is no merit to it due to the obviousness of its invalidity. And Allah the Exalted knows best.