كَأَنَّهُم يَومَ يَرَونَها لَم يَلبَثوا إِلّا عَشِيَّةً أَو ضُحاها

The day they see it, it shall be as if they had not stayed except for an evening or forenoon.

EXEGESIS

Yalbathū comes from labth, which is to remain and stay. There are a number of verses that use this word to mean to dwell (10:16) or to remain (12:42), as in verse 2:259. Hence, it can be concluded that the time of stay that is being compared to an evening or forenoon is the time that is the duration of life on earth and the period of life after death known as barzakh, until the hour of resurrection.^{‎[1]Nemuneh, 26/115.}

EXPOSITION

This verse expresses the proximity of the final hour as if it were almost an evening or forenoon away (46:35, 30:55, 20:103); a reality that becomes very clear to humankind upon their resurrection.^{‎[2]Mizan‎, 20/169.} Inversely, it means that due to the momentous and catastrophic happenings of the Day of Judgement, humankind will look back at everything that has passed by, including their life on earth, not even as a chapter in their life but as part of a single day.^{‎[3]Tibyan, 10/266.} The greatest regret is that this period that they now see as a less than a single day was the life that many of them preferred over the hereafter.^{‎[4]Qutb, 6/3820.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes have taken the period that is referred to in this verse and compared with an evening or forenoon as being the time between the question of the disbelievers in verses 10 and 11 and their resurrection.^{‎[5]Mizan‎, 20/197.} Others have taken that period to be the period of one’s life on earth.^{‎[6]Tabrisi, 10/660, who adopts this view and also narrates it from Qatādah.} However, for the reasons explained in Exegesis, there is more reason to believe that this period is the one between birth and resurrection.

[1] Nemuneh, 26/115.
[2] Mizan‎, 20/169.
[3] Tibyan, 10/266.
[4] Qutb, 6/3820.
[5] Mizan‎, 20/197.
[6] Tabrisi, 10/660, who adopts this view and also narrates it from Qatādah.