107خالِدينَ فيها ما دامَتِ السَّماواتُ وَالأَرضُ إِلّا ما شاءَ رَبُّكَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعّالٌ لِما يُريدُMuhammad Asadtherein to abide as long as the heavens and the earth endure - unless thy Sustainer wills it otherwise:1 for, verily, thy Sustainer is a sovereign doer of whatever He wills.I.e., unless God wills to reprieve them (cf. the last paragraph of 6:128 and the corresponding note 114, as well as note 10 on 40:12). The phrase "as long as the heavens and the earth endure" has caused some perplexity to most of the classical commentators in view of the many Qur'anic statements to the effect that the world as we know it will come to an end on the Last Day, which is synonymous with the Day of Resurrection. This difficulty, however, can be resolved if we remember - as Tabari points out in his commentary on the above verse - that in ancient Arabic usage the expressions "as long as the heavens and the earth endure", or "as long as night and day alternate", etc., were used metonymically in the sense of "time beyond count" (abad). See also 20:105-107 and the corresponding note 90, as well as note 63 on 14:48.