Respite, the Hour, and Listening to the Qur'an

In the verses that follow, from verse 181, Allah (swt) sets out how We may punish — how suddenly We may punish them. These points are given briefly. The third point here is that Allah (swt) says: We give people time; We give them respite.

Wa-umlī lahum: We give them some time and some respite. If they take it and return, it is well. Otherwise We seize them in punishment. Allah (swt) then reminds them: consider Muḥammad (peace be upon him):

A-wa-lam yatafakkarū mā bi-ṣāḥibihim min jinnah: he is not mad, he is not insane. In huwa illā nadhīrun mubīn: he is but a plain warner to you. Allah says: do you not look upon the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and how Allah has created everything? These again are the further proofs. Then, from verse 187, the Day of Judgement:

Yasʾalūnaka ʿani al-sāʿah: you speak continually of the Day of Judgement; when is this Day of Judgement? The question arises: when is the Day of Judgement? Ayyāna mursāhā, qul innamā ʿilmuhā ʿinda rabbī: my Lord alone has the knowledge of it. He will bring it in its time. But remember that your own punishment may come before it. Indeed your death may come before it. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) was told to say: he has control only over himself; he does not know the unseen; and had he known the unseen, he would have done far more of whatever he knew.

Allah (swt) then speaks of several other matters. And since Sūrat al-Aʿrāf opened with the Qur'an, it ends also with this verse — verse 204 — from which many masāʾil have been drawn:

Wa-idhā quriʾa al-Qurʾānu fa-stamiʿū lahu wa-anṣitū laʿallakum turḥamūn: when the Qur'an is recited, listen to it attentively and be silent, that you may receive mercy. So even if a man does not understand it, let him keep silence out of adab, out of etiquette. This is a norm of the world; it is the custom of the world that where a thing is respected, one keeps silence. It is only, unfortunately, that we have acquired certain attitudes — in the West especially, and now in the East as well — by which a man must always be saying something; must always give his view; must always have a question. So one delivers a fine discourse, and the first question is "but…", which washes away and sinks everything that was said. And it is for the sake of one's own ego. So, rather than telling you the hour, what matters more is that you use what will prepare you for the Day of Judgement.

And then Allah (swt) says:

Wa-dhkur rabbaka fī nafsika taḍarruʿan wa-khīfatan wa-dūna al-jahri mina al-qawl — which speaks of one of the etiquettes of calling upon Allah. Remember your Lord within yourselves, taḍarruʿan wa-khīfah, entreating Him humbly and with reverence. And it need not be aloud: dūna al-jahri mina al-qawli bi-l-ghuduwwi wa-l-āṣāl, morning and evening. And be not of the heedless; be not of the negligent. Remember your Lord. Remember your Lord always. May Allah let us be of those who remember Him always, dhakkārīna lah…