ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ
Then do they await except that the Hour should come upon them unexpectedly? But already there have come [some of] its indications. Then what good to them, when it has come, will be their remembrance?
Tafsir
Verse range: 47:18
{فَهَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا السَّاعَةَ أَن تَأْتِيَهُم بَغْتَةً ۖ فَقَدْ جَاءَ أَشْرَاطُهَا ۚ فَأَنَّىٰ لَهُمْ إِذَا جَاءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرَاهُمْ}
{أَن تَأْتِيَهُم}: This is a badal ishtimal (substitution of inclusion) for "the Hour," similar to the an in the verse: {وَلَوْلَا رِجَالٌ مُّؤْمِنُونَ وَنِسَاءٌ مُّؤْمِنَاتٌ لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوهُمْ أَن تَطَئُوهُمْ} (Al-Fath: 25).
It is also recited as (أَن تَأْتِهِم), with a pause on "the Hour" and starting a new conditional sentence. This is how it appears in the codices of the people of Mecca.
If you ask: What is the apodosis (jaza') of the condition? I say: It is the phrase {فَأَنَّىٰ لَهُمْ}. Its meaning is: If the Hour comes to them, how will they have their dhikrah (remembrance/admonition)? Meaning: their remembrance and taking heed will be of no benefit to them at that time, just as the Almighty said: {يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَذَكَّرُ الْإِنسَانُ وَأَنَّىٰ لَهُ الذِّكْرَىٰ} (Al-Fajr: 23).
If you ask: To what does the phrase {فَقَدْ جَاءَ أَشْرَاطُهَا} connect under both recitations? I say: It connects to the coming of the Hour as a cause connects to its effect. It is like saying: "If Zayd honors me, I am worthy of honor, so I will honor him."
"Ashrat" (أشراط) means the signs. Abu al-Aswad said: If you have resolved to sever ties between us, Then the signs of its beginning have begun to appear.
It is said that the mission of Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him and them), is among these signs, as well as the splitting of the moon and the smoke (al-dukhan).
Al-Kalbi said: It refers to the abundance of wealth and trade, false testimony, severing of kinship ties, the scarcity of the noble, and the abundance of the ignoble.
It is recited as (بُغْتَةً), with the weight of jurba. This is strange, as no other source word follows this pattern. It is narrated from Abu ‘Amr, but I fear it may be a mistake by the narrator regarding Abu ‘Amr, and that the correct reading is (بَغْتَةً), with a fatha on the ‘ayn without tashdid, as in the reading of al-Hasan mentioned previously.
{فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَاكُمْ}
