Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AS SAJDAH [12]

12. And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): ”Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty.'' 13. And if We had willed, surely We would have given every person his guidance, but the Word from Me took effect, that I will fill Hell with Jinn and mankind together. 14. Then taste because of your forgetting the meeting of this Day of yours. Surely, We too will forget you, so taste you the abiding torment for what you used to do. Allah tells us the state of the idolators on the Day of Resurrection and what they will say when they see the Resurrection and are standing before Allah -- may He be glorified -- humiliated and brought low, with their heads bowed, i.e., in shame. They will say:

(Our Lord! We have now seen and heard,) meaning, `now we hear what You say and we will obey You.' This is like the Ayah,

(How clearly will they see and hear, the Day when they will appear before Us!) (19:38). And they will blame themselves when they enter the Fire, and will say:

(”Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!'') ﴿67:10﴾ Similarly, here they are described as saying:

(Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back) to the world,

(that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty.) means, `now we are sure and we believe that Your promise is true and that the meeting with You is true.' But the Lord, may He be exalted, knows that if He were to send them back to this world, they would behave as they did previously, and they would reject and disbelieve in the signs of Allah and would go against His Messengers, as He says:

(If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: ”Would that we were but sent back! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our Lord,'') (6: 27) And Allah says here:

(And if We had willed, surely We would have given every person his guidance,) This is like the Ayah,

(And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together) (10:99).

(but the Word from Me took effect, that I will fill Hell with Jinn and mankind together.) i.e., from both classes, so their abode will be Hell and they will have no escape from it and no way out. We seek refuge with Allah and in His perfect Words from that.

(Then taste because of your forgetting the meeting of this Day of yours.) means, it will be said to the people of Hell by way of rebuke: `taste this punishment because you denied it and believed that it would never happen; you tried to forget about it and acted as if you had forgotten it.'

(Surely, We too will forget you,) means, `We will deal with you as if We have forgotten you,' but nothing escapes Allah's attention, and He makes the punishment fit the crime, as He says:

(This Day We will forget you as you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours) (45:34).

(so taste you the abiding torment for what you used to do.) i.e., because of your disbelief and rejection, as Allah says in another Ayah:

(Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink. Except Hamim, and Ghassaq) until:

(No increase shall We give you, except in torment) (78:24-30).