Quran Universe
36:50

فَلَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ تَوۡصِيَةٗ وَلَآ إِلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِهِمۡ يَرۡجِعُونَ

Fala yastateeAAoona tawsiyatan wala ila ahlihim yarjiAAoona

And they will not be able [to give] any instruction, nor to their people can they return.

Word by word
  1. فَلَاThen not
  2. يَسۡتَطِيعُونَthey will be able
  3. تَوۡصِيَةٗ(to) make a will
  4. وَلَآand not
  5. إِلَىٰٓto
  6. أَهۡلِهِمۡtheir people
  7. يَرۡجِعُونَthey (can) return
Ya-Sin · 36:50Makkah

No time to leave instructions, no way to get home.

What cannot be done once it begins

When the blast comes
no bequestno last words
no return hometo family
When to settle things
at the endI will say goodbye then
nowwhile I can

Ibn Kathir says they will not be able to make a bequest about their possessions, for the matter will be far more serious, nor go back to their families. Whatever needed saying had to be said before.

You have been meaning to tell your mother you are grateful. To repay that loan. To make peace with your brother. You assume there will be a goodbye. Say it now, while you can still go home.

There will be time to say what matters before the end.

There may be no last moment. What matters should be said and done now.

Try this

Tell one family member today something you have been meaning to say to them.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 36:48)

And they say: "When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful? (48)They await only but a single 'Şayḥah' which will seize them while they are disputing (49)Then they will not be able to make bequest, nor they will return to their family (50)

The Disbelievers thought that the Day of Resurrection would never come to pass

Allah tells us how the disbelievers thought that the Day of Resurrection would never come to pass, as they said:

مَتَىٰ هَٰذَا الْوَعْدُ

("When will this promise be fulfilled...")

يَسْتَعْجِلُ بِهَا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهَا ۖ 

(Those who believe not therein seek to hasten it)(42:18). Allah says:

مَا يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّا صَيْحَةً وَاحِدَةً تَأْخُذُهُمْ وَهُمْ يَخِصِّمُونَ

(They await only but a single 'Şayḥah' which will seize them while they are disputing!) meaning, they are only waiting for a single shout which – and Allah knows best – will be the trumpet blast of terror when the Trumpet will be blown while the people are in their marketplaces and places of work, arguing and disputing as they usually do. While in this state, Allah will command Israfil to blow into the Trumpet, so he will sound a long note and there will be no one left on the face of the earth except he will tilt his head to listen to the sound coming from heaven. Then the people who are alive will be driven to the gathering place by a fire which will surround them on all sides. Allah says:

فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ تَوْصِيَةً

(Then they will not be able to make bequest,) meaning, with regard to their possessions, because the matter is more serious than that,

وَلَا إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِمْ يَرْجِعُونَ 

(nor they will return to their family.) Numerous Hadiths and reports have been narrated about this, which we have mentioned elsewhere. After this there will be the Trumpet blast which will cause everyone who is alive to die, besides the One Who is Ever Living, Eternal. Then after that the trumpet blast of the resurrection will be sounded.