Quran Universe
13:32

وَلَقَدِ ٱسۡتُهۡزِئَ بِرُسُلٖ مِّن قَبۡلِكَ فَأَمۡلَيۡتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ثُمَّ أَخَذۡتُهُمۡۖ فَكَيۡفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ

Walaqadi istuhzia birusulin min qablika faamlaytu lillatheena kafaroo thumma akhathtuhum fakayfa kana AAiqabi

And already were [other] messengers ridiculed before you, and I extended the time of those who disbelieved; then I seized them, and how [terrible] was My penalty.

Word by word
  1. وَلَقَدِAnd certainly
  2. ٱسۡتُهۡزِئَwere mocked
  3. بِرُسُلٖMessengers
  4. مِّنfrom
  5. قَبۡلِكَbefore you
  6. فَأَمۡلَيۡتُbut I granted respite
  7. لِلَّذِينَto those who
  8. كَفَرُواْdisbelieved
  9. ثُمَّthen
  10. أَخَذۡتُهُمۡۖI seized them
  11. فَكَيۡفَand how
  12. كَانَwas
  13. عِقَابِMy penalty
Ar-Ra'd · 13:32Madinah

Mockery is old; so is the respite before the reckoning.

Comfort for the Prophet ﷺ in the face of ridicule

The pattern
earlier messengersmocked
then
respitetime given
then
seizedno escape
Reading the delay
no consequencesso it does not matter
time givena chance, not approval

Allah comforts the Prophet ﷺ: messengers before you were mocked too. Those who mocked were given time, then taken. Ibn Kathir cites a hadith in Bukhari and Muslim: Allah gives the wrongdoer respite, and when He seizes him, He does not let go.

You have been getting away with something for months: a habit, a lie at work, a harsh tone at home. Nothing bad has happened, so it feels fine. Respite is not approval. It is time to fix it.

If nothing bad has happened yet, it must not be that serious.

Delay is a mercy and a warning; it is my window to turn back.

Try this

Name one wrong you have been getting away with, and take one step to stop it today.

Related22:4811:102
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And indeed (many) Messengers were mocked at before you but I granted respite to those who disbelieved, and finally I punished them. Then how (terrible) was My punishment (32)

Comforting the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)

Allah says to His Messenger, while comforting him in facing his people's denial of him,

وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ

(And indeed (many) Messengers were mocked at before you), so you have a good example in them,

فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا

(but I granted respite to those who disbelieved,) deferred their judgment for a term appointed,

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ

(and finally I punished them.) with encompassing punishment. How did you obtain the news of how I gave them respite and then took them with punishment?' Allah said in another Ayah,

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ

(And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then (in the end) I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the (final) return (of all).)[22:48] It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet ﷺ said,

إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْهُ

(Verily, Allah gives respite to the unjust until when He seizes him, He never lets go of him.) The Messenger ﷺ next recited this Ayah,

وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَىٰ وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ ۚ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ

(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful, (and) severe.)[11:102]