The Quran

Preface

وَرَبُّكَ الغَفورُ ذُو الرَّحمَةِ ۖ لَو يُؤاخِذُهُم بِما كَسَبوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ العَذابَ ۚ بَل لَهُم مَوعِدٌ لَن يَجِدوا مِن دونِهِ مَوئِلًا

Yusuf Ali

But your Lord is Most forgiving, full of Mercy. If He were to call them (at once) to account for what they have earned, then surely He would have earned, then surely He would have hastened their punishment: but they have their appointed time, beyond which¹ they will find no refuge.

Min duni hi: should we take the pronoun to refer to “the appointed time”, or to “your Lord,” mentioned at the beginning of the verse? Most Commentators take the former view, and I have translated accordingly. But I agree with those who take the latter view, and the better translation would be: “But they have their appointed time, and except with God, they will find no refuge.” That means that even during the period allowed them, when they are left to wander astray as they have rejected God’s Grace, God’s Mercy is open to them if they will repent and return; but nothing but God’s Mercy can save them.