Overall meaning : The Almighty says: Do not think, Muhammad, that Allah is unaware of the wrongdoers’ actions, like the idolaters among your people. He is fully aware of what they do, and He will certainly punish them for their wrongdoing. He only defers their punishment to a day, which will be so awful and terrible that their eyes will stare in dread at the horrors they will see and as a result of the dreadful fright by which they will be gripped, hastening forward, after rising forth from their graves, to the Land of Gathering for judgement, with their heads upraised, their eyes not blinking, not be able to direct their gaze wherever they want, and their hearts and minds will be utterly void due to excessive terror.
And warn people, Muhammad, of the punishment of the Day of Judgement, when those who have wronged themselves because of unbelief and disobedience will cry, ‘Lord, grant us respite for a short while and take us back to the life of the world so that we may believe in You and follow the messengers.’ Allah will say to them, ‘Did you not swear in the worldly life that there would be no resurrection and no life after death? You lived in the dwellings of those who wronged themselves due to unbelief and it was made clear to you, from their ruins and the accounts you had heard about them, how We destroyed them when they persisted in their unbelief and disobedience, and We set forth many a parable for you in the Qur’an to serve as a lesson and warning for you, but you never took heed.’
They devised their mighty evil scheme, but their scheming is known to Allah, who will judge them according to their deeds and punish them accordingly. The unbelievers’ scheming is so feeble it will not move mountains; and even if it could, they would by no means destroy Islam, for Allah will certainly support His faith and make it reign supreme.