46 Al-Ahqaf (The Sand-Dunes)

Mecca Period 66

46:35 REMAIN, then, [O believer,) patient in adversity, just as all of the apostles, endowed with firmness of heart, bore themselves with patience. And do not ask for a speedy doom of those [who still deny the truth] : on the Day when they see [the fulfilment of] what they were promised, 42 [it will seem to them] as though they had dwelt [on earth) no longer than one hour of [an earthly) day! 43

[This is Our] message. Will, then, any be [really) destroyed save iniquitous folk? 44

41 This is apparently an allusion to the Qur'anic doctrine that God's creative activity is continuous and unending.

42 I.e., the reality of life after death.

43 In this parabolic manner the Qur'an points to the illusory concept of "time" as experienced by the human mind - a concept which has no bearing on the ultimate reality to be unfolded in the hereafter.

44 Cf. the last sentence of 6:47 and the corresponding note 37.