(Woe, that Day, to the deniers)

(Woe, that Day, to the deniers) - (So in what statement after it will they believe?) – meaning, after the Qur'an, which articulates the narratives of the two abodes (this world and the hereafter) and the news of the two states of existence in a marvelous manner, founded upon decisive proofs and radiant evidences? Since they have not believed in it, in what else will they believe?

The expression "after it" (rather than using another term) serves to draw attention to the fact that there is no discourse that equals it in merit, let alone one that surpasses or transcends it. Thus, no discourse is more deserving of belief than it. The "after-ness" here signifies a disparity in rank, as in the saying of the Almighty: "cruel—and moreover, an illegitimate pretender" (14:13).

The particle fa (so) indicates that the meaning is: if such is the case, and the Qur'an has encompassed the healing clarification and the manifest truth, what is the matter with them that they do not hasten to believe in it before the [arrival of] woe, when there will be no benefit in [saying] "perhaps," "maybe," or "if only"? Ya'qub and Ibn 'Amir (in one narration) read tu'minun (you will believe) in the second person.

Furthermore, whereas in Surah al-Insan, the conditions of the disbelievers in the Hereafter were summarized and the conditions of the believers were elaborated upon, the matter is reversed in this Surah; thus, balance is achieved between these two Surahs. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Completed, and praise be to Allah, the Exalted. The twenty-ninth part. It is followed, if Allah wills, by the thirtieth part, the beginning of which is (Surah al-Naba').