Surat An-Naba’ Verse No. 40: Reading and listening
Translation of the verse 40 from Surah An-Naba’ : Number of verses 40 - - page 583 - Part 30.
﴾إِنَّآ أَنذَرۡنَٰكُمۡ عَذَابٗا قَرِيبٗا يَوۡمَ يَنظُرُ ٱلۡمَرۡءُ مَا قَدَّمَتۡ يَدَاهُ وَيَقُولُ ٱلۡكَافِرُ يَٰلَيۡتَنِي كُنتُ تُرَٰبَۢا ﴿
[ النبأ: 40]
Verily, We have warned you of a near torment, the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: "Woe to me! Would that I were dust!"
English - Sahih International
Indeed, We have warned you of a near punishment on the Day when a man will observe what his hands have put forth and the disbeliever will say, "Oh, I wish that I were dust!"
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
(78:40) Lo! We warn you of a chastisement near at hand; *26 the Day when a man will look on what his own hands have sent forth, and the unbelievers shall say: 'Oh would that I were utter dust.' *27
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
*26) Apparently, one might think that the people who were the audience of this verse died fourteen centuries ago, ,and even now it cannot be said how many hundreds or thousands or millions of years Resurrection will take to come. Then, in what sense has it been said: "The torment of which you have been warned, has approached near at hand?" And what is the meaning of saying in the beginning of the Surah: "Soon they shall know?" The answer is that man can have the feeling of time only until he is passing a physical life in the world within the bounds of space and time. After death when only the soul will survive, he will lose every feeling and consciousness of time, and on the Day of Resurrection when man will rise back to life, he will feel as though some one had aroused him from sleep suddenly. He will not at all be conscious that he has been resurrected after thousands of years. (For further explanation, see E.N. 26 of An-Nahl, E.N. 56 of Bani Isra'il, E.N. 80 of Ta Ha, E.N. 48 of Ya Sin).
*27) "Would ......dust": "Would that I had not been born in the world, or had become mere dust after death, and thus reduced to nothingness."