ثُمَّ قَضَىٰٓ أَجَلًا وَأَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى عِندَهُۥ ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ … قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ ٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
"Then He decreed a term; and a term determined is with Him. Then you still doubt… Say: 'Travel through the earth, then look at what the end of those who cried lies was like.'"
| Reading | The first term | The second term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The lifespan | The Resurrection |
| 2 | The determined span | The knowledge that is with Him |
Both readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. The construction ajalun musammā was treated in six places in the index (al-Aḥqāf 46/3, al-Zumar 39/42, Fāṭir 35/45, Luqmān 31/29, al-ʿAnkabūt 29/53, al-Raʿd 13/2). I rely on that treatment.
وَمَا تَأْتِيهِم مِّنْ ءَايَةٍ مِّنْ ءَايَٰتِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَّا كَانُوا۟ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ (4) — the pattern is built with mā … illā: it states that there is no exception.
قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ (11) — this command was treated in many places in the index (Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/21 and 40/82, Fāṭir 35/44, al-Furqān 25/40). And what was recorded there holds here too: the proof is brought not from a distant history but from the ruins along the road.
وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ كِتَٰبًا فِى قِرْطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوهُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ لَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِنْ هَٰذَآ إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ (7)
Qirṭās (a sheet for writing) and lamasūhu bi-aydīhim (their touching it with their hands) — the most concrete form of verification is supposed, and it is stated that it would still be rejected.
I record this as my own reading: the verse closes off the demand for a miracle with a counterfactual supposition. The same method was treated at al-Raʿd 13/31 (the moving of the mountains) and at Fuṣṣilat 41/44 the note was entered that "whichever option it had been, an objection would have been found." I rely on that treatment.