The Quran

Preface

وَأَنذِرِ النّاسَ يَومَ يَأتيهِمُ العَذابُ فَيَقولُ الَّذينَ ظَلَموا رَبَّنا أَخِّرنا إِلىٰ أَجَلٍ قَريبٍ نُجِب دَعوَتَكَ وَنَتَّبِعِ الرُّسُلَ ۗ أَوَلَم تَكونوا أَقسَمتُم مِن قَبلُ ما لَكُم مِن زَوالٍ

Yusuf Ali

So warn mankind of the Day when the Wrath will reach them: then will the wrong-doers say: “Our Lord! respite us (if only) for a short term: we will answer Thy call, and follow the messengers!” “What! were ye not wont to swear aforetime that ye should suffer no decline?¹

Zawal = decline from the zenith, as that of the sun; decline from the highest point reached by a heavenly body in its course through the sky. The ungodly are apt to think that their power will remain in the ascendant, on account of some material advantages given them temporarily by God, but they are constantly receiving warnings in history and revelation and from the example of others before them. There is a warning to the contemporary Pagan Meccans here; but the warning is perfectly general, and for all time.