وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا ثُمَّ لَا يُؤْذَنُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَلَا هُمْ يُسْتَعْتَبُونَ · وَإِذَا رَءَا ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ فَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ · وَإِذَا رَءَا ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ شُرَكَآءَهُمْ قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ شُرَكَآؤُنَا ٱلَّذِينَ كُنَّا نَدْعُوا۟ مِن دُونِكَ فَأَلْقَوْا۟ إِلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقَوْلَ إِنَّكُمْ لَكَٰذِبُونَ
Wa yawma nabʿathu min kulli ummatin shahīdan thumma lā yuʾdhanu lilladhīna kafarū wa lā hum yustaʿtabūn · Wa idhā raʾa'lladhīna ẓalamu'l-ʿadhāba fa-lā yukhaffafu ʿanhum wa lā hum yunẓarūn · Wa idhā raʾa'lladhīna ashrakū shurakāʾahum qālū rabbanā hāʾulāʾi shurakāʾuna'lladhīna kunnā nadʿū min dūnik, fa-alqaw ilayhimu'l-qawla innakum la-kādhibūn
"On the day We raise up a witness from every community, no leave will be given to those who disbelieved, nor will they be asked to make amends. · When those who did wrong see the punishment, it will not be lightened for them, nor will they be granted respite. · When those who associated see the partners they associated, they will say: 'Our Lord, these are our partners, whom we used to call upon besides You.' And they will fling the word back at them: 'You are liars.'"
The word istiʿtāb was treated at Fuṣṣilat, 41/24, and the same root occurred at al-Rūm, 30/57. I rely on those treatments. The sense of the root: to remove a grievance, to win back goodwill; in Form X, to be asked to make amends.
| What closes | Expression |
|---|---|
| Leave to speak | Lā yuʾdhanu lilladhīna kafarū |
| The chance to make amends | Wa lā hum yustaʿtabūn |
The sense of the second note is worth recording, and I give it as an observation: the verse does not say "their excuses will not be accepted". It says "they will not be asked to make amends". What closes, then, is the stage before the door of excuse: the stage at which amends are called for.
The same verb (ل-ق-ي, Form IV) occurs for the third time in the sūra: in the fifteenth verse of the mountains (wa alqā fi'l-arḍi rawāsiya), in the twenty-eighth of surrender (fa-alqawu'l-salam), here of a word. This is a repetition verifiable within the sūra.
And the picture of ilqāʾ here is worth recording: the word is not spoken, it is thrown. Like a thing hurled at the other party.
This threefold refusal was treated at Fāṭir, 35/13-14, and at al-Aḥqāf, 46/5-6; I rely on those treatments.
And the giving of the lie in the eighty-sixth verse must be recorded: innakum la-kādhibūn — to whom is it said? The lexicographers record that it is said by those who were served to those who served them. And what is given the lie is the claim of attribution in the preceding sentence — the words "these were our partners".