Some Qur’anic verses tell us what will happen in the Hereafter; others allow us to hear the regret of those who arrive there unprepared. Surah Fāṭir 35:37 belongs to the latter. It presents a chilling plea from people who finally understand the value of faith, repentance and righteous action—but only after the time for choosing has ended. Their cry, “Our Lord, take us out and we will do righteous deeds,” is not merely a description of their future condition; it is a warning addressed to those of us who are still alive. Allah shows us their regret now so that we do not have to experience it later.
The Verse
Surah Fāṭir 35:37 — The Qur’an’s Warning Against Delayed Repentance
There are verses in the Qur’an that describe Paradise and Hell. There are others that allow us almost to hear the voices of people after the opportunity for choice has ended. Surah Fāṭir 35:37 belongs to this second category. It presents a frightening moment: people who once had time, freedom, warnings and opportunities now beg Allah for only one thing—another chance to return and live differently.
وَهُمْ يَصْطَرِخُونَ فِيهَا رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا غَيْرَ الَّذِي كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ ۚ أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُمْ مَا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَنْ تَذَكَّرَ وَجَاءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ ۖ فَذُوقُوا فَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ نَصِيرٍ
“There they will cry out, ‘Our Lord! Take us out, and we will do righteous deeds, unlike what we used to do.’ [They will be told:] ‘Did We not give you lives long enough for whoever wished to take heed to do so? And a warner came to you. So taste, for the wrongdoers will have no helper.’”
The context of the verse
The preceding verse, 35:36, speaks of those who rejected faith facing the punishment of Hell. Verse 37 then reveals their response. The arrogance, distraction and excuses of worldly life have disappeared. They no longer dispute the truth. Now they plead: “Take us back. We will behave differently.”
But the answer given to them is devastating because it reminds them that the opportunity they now desperately desire had already been given:
- You had life.
- You had time.
- You had reminders.
- You had warnings.
- You had the opportunity to think.
The tragedy is not that Allah denied them the chance to change. The tragedy is that they did not use the chance while they possessed it.
What does “Did We not give you lives long enough?” mean? The verse does not specify one particular number of years. Its central point is that people were given sufficient opportunity to reflect and respond.
Ibn Kathīr explains that Allah reminds them that their lives were long enough for a person who wished to take heed to do so. He also records interpretations connecting advanced age with the disappearance of excuses: the longer a person lives and the more reminders he receives, the more reason he has to reconsider his relationship with Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah has left no excuse for a person whose life He has prolonged until sixty years.” — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6419
This does not mean that sixty is a magical boundary after which repentance becomes impossible. Rather, it stresses that a long life is itself a profound opportunity—and consequently a profound responsibility.
Who is “the warner”? The Arabic expression is: وَجَاءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ — “and the warner came to you.”
Classical commentators commonly understand this principally as the warning brought by Allah’s messengers and revelation. For the community addressed by the Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Qur’an itself constitute the clearest warning. Some early interpretations also regarded old age and grey hair as warnings in another sense: visible reminders that one's journey through this world is approaching its end.
The wider lesson is clear. Allah does not leave the human being completely unwarned. Revelation warns us. Conscience warns us. The death of others warns us. Age warns us. Illness can warn us. The passing of years warns us. Yet people can become so accustomed to warnings that they stop hearing them.
The Qur’an repeatedly describes the same regret Fāṭir 35:37 is not an isolated warning. The Qur’an repeatedly portrays people wishing for another chance when another chance is no longer available.
- Al-Mu’minūn 23:99–100 At death a person says, “My Lord, send me back so that I may do righteousness.” The request is rejected.
- As-Sajdah 32:12 The guilty say, “Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so send us back and we will do righteousness.”
- Al-Anʿām 6:27–28 Seeing the Fire, people wish they could return and believe—but Allah exposes the insincerity of such late regret.
- Az-Zumar 39:56–59 A soul cries, “Alas for me for what I neglected regarding Allah.”
- Ibrāhīm 14:44 People ask for a brief delay so they can answer Allah’s call and follow the messengers.
- Al-Munāfiqūn 63:10–11 At the approach of death a person asks, “Why did You not delay me for a little while?”
- Al-Mulk 67:10 The inhabitants of Hell admit, “Had we listened or reasoned, we would not be among the people of the Blaze.”
One remarkable pattern emerges from these passages: In this world people often ask for more evidence; in the Hereafter they ask for more time.
The Qur’an tells us about their future regret precisely so that we do not have to share it.
The real danger is postponement Very few people deliberately decide: “I want to meet Allah in a state of disobedience.”
The danger usually appears in a much less dramatic form "Later":
- I will pray regularly—later.
- I will stop this sin—later.
- I will seek forgiveness—later.
- I will repair that broken relationship—later.
- I will return what belongs to someone else—later.
- I will read the Qur’an seriously—later.
- I will think about death and the Hereafter when I am older.
The Qur’an repeatedly challenges this illusion because “later” is something nobody possesses. We possess only the opportunity Allah has given us now.
Fāṭir 35:37 must be read alongside Allah’s mercy
"This verse should not produce despair." The same Qur’an that shows us the terrible consequences of postponing repentance also says:
“O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.” — Qur’an 39:53
These two verses complement each other beautifully.
- 35:37: Do not wait until repentance becomes impossible.
- 39:53: While repentance is possible, never believe your sins are too great for Allah’s mercy.
Islam therefore stands between two dangerous extremes:
- False security — “I can continue indefinitely; I will repent someday,” and,
- Despair — “I have sinned too much; there is no point returning.”
The Qur’an rejects both. The proper response is: Return to Allah now—and return with hope.
How can we prepare ourselves to avoid such an end?
The answer is not to spend our lives terrified of death. The Qur’anic purpose is to make us conscious of life.
- Begin with sincere tawbah. Repentance is not merely saying Astaghfirullāh. It means recognizing the wrong, regretting it, abandoning it, asking Allah's forgiveness and sincerely intending not to return to it. Where another person's rights have been violated, genuine repentance may also require restoring those rights.
- Then protect the five daily prayers. Ṣalāh repeatedly pulls us out of worldly distraction. Five times every day the believer leaves business, conversation, entertainment and worry and stands before Allah. A life anchored in prayer is much harder to live in complete forgetfulness of the Hereafter.
- Develop a relationship with the Qur’an that produces action. After reading a passage, ask: What does Allah want me to understand? Is there something here I need to start, stop, repair or repent from?
- Remember death—but understand why Islam asks us to remember it. The point is not gloom. Remembering death places worldly successes, arguments and ambitions into proper proportion. Many things that seem enormous today become very small when viewed from the perspective of eternity.
- Take the rights of other people seriously. Prayer and fasting do not give us permission to abuse, defraud, slander, cheat, usurp property or destroy another person's honour. Some of the most dangerous sins are those whose consequences involve other human beings.
- And finally, never assume that knowledge by itself guarantees salvation. Fāṭir 35:37 is especially striking because the people do not ask to return and learn more.
They say: “We will do righteous deeds different from what we used to do.” Their regret concerns what they failed to do with the knowledge and opportunity they already possessed.
A question worth asking ourselves
- Imagine for a moment that you were one of the people described in 35:37. You have begged: “My Lord, return me.”
And imagine that your request was granted for one day. What would you do differently?
- Whom would you forgive?
- Whose forgiveness would you seek?
- What prayer would you stop postponing?
- What right would you return?
- What sin would you abandon?
- What would suddenly become unimportant?
- What would suddenly become urgent?
- Now consider the remarkable fact:
You have been given that day. It is today. That is perhaps the most practical way to read this verse.
Fāṭir 35:37 is really a verse addressed to the living
Although the people speaking in the verse are in the Hereafter, the verse was revealed to people who are still alive. That changes everything.
- Allah is allowing us to hear tomorrow's regret today.
- He shows us the end of the road before we arrive there.
- He tells us what people will wish they had done while we still possess the ability to do it.
So this passage should not leave us merely saying: “How terrible their condition will be.” It should make us ask: “What must I do now so that their words never become mine?”
Final Reflections - Do Not Wait Until You Would Give Everything for Today
The people of Fāṭir 35:37 will eventually understand something that every believer is invited to understand before death: time is not merely passing—it is opportunity disappearing.
Every sunrise gives us another chance to repent. Every prayer is another opportunity to return. Every Qur’anic reminder is another warning received before the final warning becomes reality.
The most frightening part of 35:37 may therefore not be Hell itself, but the words: “Our Lord, take us out and we will do righteous deeds.” They finally know exactly what they should have done—but they know it too late.
We do not have to wait for that moment. The people of the Hereafter will beg for the opportunity that you and I possess today. So repent while repentance is accepted. Worship while worship is still voluntary. Repair what can still be repaired. Forgive while there is still someone to forgive. Do good while your hands can still do it. Do not wait for a time when you would give everything for one more day with Allah—while Allah has already given you today.
Conclusion
Surah Fāṭir 35:37 is ultimately not a verse about hopelessness; it is a verse about opportunity. The people described in it will beg for one more chance because they will finally recognize the value of the time they wasted. We, however, still possess that chance. We can still repent, pray, restore rights, seek forgiveness, repair relationships, abandon wrongdoing and turn sincerely toward Allah. The real question is therefore not what we would do if we were returned from the Hereafter, but what we will do with the day Allah has already given us. The wisest response to this verse is simple: do not postpone the good you already know you should do, and do not delay returning to Allah while the door of repentance is still open.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
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