Al-Qur'an Surah Al-An'am Verse 158

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They are waiting for nothing less than that the angels should come to them, or your Lord or some signs of your Lord should come. The day some signs of your Lord will come, the believing of a person shall be of no use to him who had never believed before, or had not earned some good through his faith. Say, “Wait. Of course, we are waiting.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Are they awaiting the coming of the angels, or your Lord ˹Himself˺, or some of your Lord’s ˹major˺ signs? On the Day your Lord’s signs arrive, belief will not benefit those who did not believe earlier or those who did no good through their faith.[[ This refers to disobedient believers who neither did any good nor repented before the time of their death or the arrival of the Day of Judgment. This is supported by authentic narrations from the Prophet (ﷺ). ]] Say, “Keep waiting! We too are waiting.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Are they waiting for the coming of the angels, or the coming of your Lord, or the coming of some of your Lord’s signs? On the Day when some of your Lord’s signs come, belief will be of no benefit to those who did not believe before, or those who did not do some good through their faith. Say, “Wait then; we too are waiting.”

A. J. Arberry

What, do they look for the angels to come to them, nothing less, or that thy Lord should come, or that one of thy Lord's signs should come? On the day that one of thy Lord's signs comes it shall not profit a soul to believe that never believed before, or earned some good in his belief. Say: 'Watch and wait; We too are waiting.'

Abdul Haleem

Are they waiting for the very angels to come to them, or your Lord Himself, or maybe some of His signs? But on the Day some of your Lord’s signs come, no soul will profit from faith if it had none before, or has not already earned some good through its faith. Say, ‘Wait if you wish: we too are waiting.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

They await indeed that the angel should come unto them, or that thy Lord should come or that certain of the signs of thy Lord should come. On the Day whereon certain of the signs of thy Lord will come, belief will not profit any person who had not believed theretofore or had not earned any good by his belief. Say thou: so wait ye verily we also are waiting.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the signs of thy Lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say; "Wait ye; we too are waiting."

Abul Ala Maududi

What! Do they wait either for the angels to appear before them or for your Lord to come unto them or for some clear signs of your Lord to appear before them? When some clear signs of your Lord will appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who earned no good deeds through his faith. Say: 'Wait on; we too are waiting.'

Ahmed Ali

What are the people waiting for? For the angels to come down, or your Lord to appear, or some signs from your Lord? The day when certain signs appear from your Lord, the embracing of faith shall not be of any avail to one who did not come to belief at first, or who did not perform good deeds by virtue of his faith. Tell them: "Wait on, we are waiting too (for the good and evil to become distinct)."

Ahmed Raza Khan

What are they waiting for – except that the angels come to them, or the punishment from your Lord, or one of the signs of your Lord? On the day when the (foretold) sign of your Lord comes, not a single soul who had not earlier accepted faith nor earned any good from its faith, will benefit from accepting faith; say, “Wait – we too are waiting.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Do they not consider that the angels may come to them, or your Lord may come, or some of your Lord’s signs may come? The day when some of your Lord’s signs do come, faith shall not benefit any soul that had not believed beforehand and had not earned some goodness in its faith. Say, ‘Wait! We too are waiting!’

Ali Ünal

Do they wait only for the angels to come to them (to take their souls or bring them a disaster), or for your Lord to judge them (and bring forth Hell for them), or for some clear signs of your Lord to appear (such as rocks pouring down on them, which they want you to show them, or signs signaling the final destruction of the world)? When some clears signs of your Lord appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who has earned no good through his belief. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Wait on, we too are waiting!"

Amatul Rahman Omar

Do they await only that the angels should come to them (with wars), or that (complete destruction from) your Lord should come (upon them), or that some of the signs of your Lord should visit them (with earthly calamities). The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, no soul, that did not believe earlier or accomplished some good deeds through (his) belief, will ever benefit by his faith. Say, `Wait, we too are waiting.´

English Literal

Do they wait except that the angels come to them , or your Lord comes, or some (of) your Lord`s verses/evidences come? (On) a day/time some (of) your Lord`s verses/evidences come, a self`s belief does not benefit (it) if it was (had) not believed from before, or gained goodness in its belief, say: "Wait/watch , We are waiting/watching."

Faridul Haque

What are they waiting for - except that the angels come to them, or the punishment from your Lord, or one of the signs of your Lord? On the day when the (foretold) sign of your Lord comes, not a single soul who had not earlier accepted faith nor earned any good from its faith, will benefit from accepting faith; say, “Wait - we too are waiting.”

Hamid S. Aziz

Do they wait, expecting that the angels should come for them, or that your Lord (Himself) should come, or that one of the Signs of your Lord should come? On the day when the Sign does come, its faith shall profit no soul which did not believe before, nor earned, by its faith, from good works. Say, "Wait you expectant, we wait expectant too."

Hilali & Khan

Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: "Wait you! we (too) are waiting."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Or, lest you should say: If the Book had been revealed to us, we would have been better guided than they. So indeed there has come to you clear proof from your Lord, and guidance and mercy. Who is then more unjust than he who rejects Allah’s messages and turns away from them? We reward those who turn away from Our messages with an evil chastisement because they turned away.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They do not wait aught but that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the signs of your Lord should come. On the day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, its faith shall not profit a soul which did not believe before, or earn good through its faith. Say: Wait; we too are waiting.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Wait they, indeed, for nothing less than that the angels should come unto them, or thy Lord should come, or there should come one of the portents from thy Lord? In the day when one of the portents from thy Lord cometh, its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore believed not, nor in its belief earned good (by works). Say: Wait ye! Lo! We (too) are waiting.

Muhammad Sarwar

Are they waiting until the angels or your Lord come to them or for some miracles to take place? On the day when some miracles of God will take place, the belief of any soul will be of no avail to it unless some good deeds have been done with it, or it has been formed before the coming of such a day. (Muhammad), tell them, "Wait and we, too, are waiting."

Qaribullah & Darwish

Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come to them, or for some of the signs of your Lord? On the Day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will be benefited by its belief had it not believed before or earned good in its belief. Say: 'Wait, we are waiting'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come! The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good with his faith. Say: "Wait you! We (too) are waiting."

Wahiduddin Khan

Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come down to them, or for some of your Lord's signs to come? The day when some of the signs of your Lord shall come, it shall not profit any human being who did not believe before, or who did not do any good by his faith. Say to them, "Wait then, we too are waiting."

Talal Itani

Are they waiting for anything but for the angels to come to them, or for your Lord to arrive, or for some of your Lord’s signs to come? On the Day when some of your Lord’s signs come, no soul will benefit from its faith unless it had believed previously, or had earned goodness through its faith. Say, “Wait, we too are waiting.”

Tafsir jalalayn

Are they waiting -- the deniers are indeed waiting -- for nothing less than that the angels should come to them (read ta'tyahum or ya'tyahum), to seize their souls, or that your Lord, that is, His command, meaning His chastisement, should come, or that one of your Lord's signs should come?, that is, those portents of His that indicate [the arrival of] the Hour? On the day that one of your Lord's signs comes -- and this is the rising of the sun from the west, as reported in the hadth of the two Sahhs [of Bukhr and Muslim] -- it shall not benefit a soul to believe if it had not believed theretofore (lam takun manat min qabl is an adjectival qualification of nafs, `a soul') or, a soul which had not [until then], earned in its belief some good, some [act of] obedience, that is to say, its repentance shall be of no benefit to it, as [stated] in the hadth [corpus]. Say; `Wait, for one of these things, We too are waiting', for it.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Disbelievers Await the Commencement of the Hereafter, or Some of its Portents

Allah sternly threatens the disbelievers, those who defy His Messengers, deny His Ayat and hinder from His path,

هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن تَأْتِيهُمُ الْمَليِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ

Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord (Allah) should come...

on the Day of Resurrection,

أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ ايَاتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ ايَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا

or that some of the signs of your Lord should come! The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come no good will it do to a person to believe then.

Before the commencement of the Day of Resurrection, there will come signs and portents of the Last Hour that will be witnessed by the people living at that time.

In a section explaining this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

لَاا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا فَإِذَا رَاهَا النَّاسُ امَنَ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَذَلِكَ حِين

The Last Hour will not commence until the sun rises from the west. When the people witness that, they will all believe. This is when.

لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا

لَمْ تَكُنْ امَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ

no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

ثَلَثٌ إِذَا خَرَجْنَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ امَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْل أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَالدَّجَّالُ وَدَابَّةُ الاَْرْض

Three, if they appear, then a soul will not benefit from its faith, if it had not believed before or earned good in its faith;when the sun rises from the west, Ad-Dajjal and the Beast of the earth.

Ahmad also recorded this Hadith, and in his narration, the Prophet mentioned the Smoke.

Imam Ahmad recorded that `Amr bin Jarir said,

"Three Muslim men sat with Marwan in Al-Madinah and they heard him talking about the signs (of the Last Hour).

He said that the first sign will be the appearance of Ad-Dajjal. So these men went to Abdullah bin `Amr and told him what they heard from Marwan about the signs.

Ibn `Amr said, Marwan said nothing. I remember that I heard the Messenger of Allah saying,

إِنَّ أَوَّلَ الاْياتِ خُرُوجًا طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَخُرُوجُ الدَّابَّةِ ضُحًى فَأَيَّتُهُمَا كَانَتْ قَبْلَ صَاحِبَتِهَا فَالاُْخْرَى عَلَى أَثَرِهَا

The first of the signs to appear are the sun rising from the west and the Beast that appears in the early morning. Whichever comes before the other, then the second sign will appear soon after it."

Then Abdullah said - and he used to read the Scriptures -

"And I think the first of them is the sun rising from the west. That is because when it sets it comes under the Throne, prostrates and seeks permission to return. So it is permitted to return until Allah wants it to rise from the west. So it does as it normally would, it comes beneath the Throne, it prostrates and seeks permission to return. But it will get no response. Then it will seek permission to return (again), but it will get no response, until what Allah wills of the night to pass goes by, and it realizes that if it is permitted to return it would not (be able to) reach the east. It says; `My Lord! The east is so far, what good would I be to the people' Until the horizons appear as a (lightless) ring, it seeks permission to return and is told; `Rise from your place,' so it rises upon the people from where it set."

Then he recited,

لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا

لَمْ تَكُنْ امَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ

no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before,

This was also recorded by Muslim in his Sahih, and Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah in their Sunans.

Allah's statement,

لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا

لَمْ تَكُنْ امَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ

no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before,

means, when the disbeliever believes then, it will not be accepted from him. As for those who were believers before, if they earned righteous deeds, they will have earned a great deal of good. If they had not done good nor repented before then, it will not be accepted from them, according to the Hadiths that we mentioned.

This is also the meaning of Allah's statement,

أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا
nor earned good through his faith.

meaning, one's good deeds will not be accepted from him unless he performed good deeds before.

Allah said next,

قُلِ انتَظِرُواْ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ



Say;"Wait you! We (too) are waiting."

This is a stern threat to the disbelievers and a sure promise for those who delay embracing the faith and repenting until a time when faith or repentance shall not avail. This will occur when the sun rises from the west because the Last Hour will then be imminent and its major signs will have begun to appear.

Allah said in other Ayat,

فَهَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ السَّاعَةَ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَقَدْ جَأءَ أَشْرَاطُهَا فَأَنَّى لَهُمْ إِذَا جَأءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرَاهُمْ

Do they then await (anything) other than the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly! But some of its portents have already come; and when it is upon them, how can they benefit then by their reminder! (47;18)

and,

فَلَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا قَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَكَـفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْ إِيمَـنُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا

So when they saw Our punishment, they said;"We believe in Allah alone and reject (all) that we used to associate with Him as partners." Then their faith could not avail them when they saw Our punishment. (40;84-85