18 Preface فَهَل يَنظُرونَ إِلَّا السّاعَةَ أَن تَأتِيَهُم بَغتَةً ۖ فَقَد جاءَ أَشراطُها ۚ فَأَنّىٰ لَهُم إِذا جاءَتهُم ذِكراهُمYusuf AliDo they then only wait1 for the Hour,- that it should come on them of a sudden? But already have come some tokens2 thereof, and when it (actually) is on them, how can they benefit then by their admonition?Cf. 43:66, and n. 4665.The sands of time are always running, and when a wrong is done, the time for its punishment is approaching every moment. No one should therefore wait. The time for repentance is Now at any given time. When the punishment comes, it is too late for repentance, and all admonition would be useless. Looking to the particular time when this Sūra was revealed, viz., about a year after the Hijrat, already there were Signs that the plans of the Pagans to crush Islam were crumbling to pieces. The Hijrat showed how much good will there was in Medīna for the Prophet of God, and how many people from Mecca adhered to him. The battle of Badr showed that they could hold their own against odds of three to one.