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Explanatory Note
Then, in a highly inspiring comment, the sūrah recalls the fearful Day of Judgement when people shall stand defenceless before God to account for their actions. These words cannot fail to move a thoughtful and conscientious person to write off any money he might be owed by some helpless borrower. The day to be feared is awesome indeed. Believers’ hearts dread the events of that day when all will be made to stand in front of God to face the reckoning of their deeds. This verse serves as a fitting comment on a passage devoted to the liquidation of past unfair dealings.
This fear is the powerful ‘voice within’ which Islam kindles in the deepest recesses of people’s minds and hearts to act as a potent guiding force in life. Thus Islam proves yet again how vigorous, well-integrated, practical and merciful it is, and demonstrates that its overriding aim and objective is the happiness and well-being of man as an individual, and of human society as a whole.
An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "The last Ayah to be revealed from the Qur'an was, وَاتَّقُواْ يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ "And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly." (2:281)