210هَل يَنظُرونَ إِلّا أَن يَأتِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ في ظُلَلٍ مِنَ الغَمامِ وَالمَلائِكَةُ وَقُضِيَ الأَمرُ ۚ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرجَعُ الأُمورُMuhammad AsadAre these people1 waiting, perchance, for God to reveal Himself unto them in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels - although [by then] all will have been decided, and unto God all things will have been brought back?2Lit., "they"- obviously referring to the people addressed in the preceding two verses.I.e., it will be too late for repentance. All commentators agree in that the "decision" relates to the unequivocal manifestation of God's will on the Day of Judgment, which is alluded to in the words, "when unto God all things will have been brought back". Since, in the next verse, the children of Israel are addressed, it is possible that this rhetorical question is connected with their refusal, in the time of Moses, to believe in the divine message unless they "see God face to face" (cf. 2:55).