ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ
So be patient, [O Muhammad]; indeed, the promise of Allah is truth. And whether We show you some of what We have promised them or We take you in death, it is to Us they will be returned.
ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ
So be patient, [O Muhammad]; indeed, the promise of Allah is truth. And whether We show you some of what We have promised them or We take you in death, it is to Us they will be returned.
Tafsir
Verse range: 40:77
{فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ} Its origin is: fa-in nuriyannaka (فإن نرك). The "ma" (ما) is an addition to emphasize the meaning of the condition. For this reason, the nun (ن) was attached to the verb. Do you not see that you do not say: "If you honor me, I will honor you" (in tukrimni ukrimka), but rather: "If you [ever] honor me, I will honor you" (imma tukrimni ukrimka)?
If you ask: It is inevitable that you either coordinate {أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ} (or We take you in death) with {نُرِيَنَّكَ} (We show you) and make them share in a single consequence, which is His saying: {فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ} (to Us they will be returned). But your saying: "If We show you some of what We promise them, then to Us they will be returned" is incorrect. And if you make {فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ} specific to the coordinated clause—which is "We take you in death"—then the first clause remains without a consequence.
I say: {فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ} is connected to "We take you in death." The consequence for "We show you" is omitted. Its estimation is: "If We show you some of what We promise them of torment—namely, the killing and captivity on the day of Badr—then that is [sufficient]. Or, if We take you in death before the day of Badr, then to Us they will be returned on the Day of Resurrection, and We will take the severest vengeance upon them."
Similar to this is His saying: {فَإِمَّا نَذْهَبَنَّ بِكَ فَإِنَّا مِنْهُم مُّنتَقِمُونَ * أَوْ نُرِيَنَّكَ الَّذِي وَعَدْنَاهُمْ فَإِنَّا عَلَيْهِم مُّقْتَدِرُونَ} (So whether We take you away, We will take vengeance upon them, or We show you that which We have promised them, then indeed, We are over them competent) [Az-Zukhruf: 41-42].
{وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلًا مِّن قَبْلِكَ مِنْهُم مَّن قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّن لَّمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ ۗ وَمَا كَانَ لِرَسُولٍ أَن يَأْتِيَ بِآيَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ قُضِيَ بِالْحَقِّ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ}