Quran 22:47, a day like a thousand years

Surah Al-Hajj, ayah 47: "And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count." Read it in Arabic with transliteration and the Sahih International translation, with the ayah before and after it, and listen to it recited.

Qari

22:46Before

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌۭ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ ءَاذَانٌۭ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا ۖ فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى ٱلْأَبْصَٰرُ وَلَٰكِن تَعْمَى ٱلْقُلُوبُ ٱلَّتِى فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ ﴿٤٦﴾

Afalam yaseeroo fil ardi fatakoona lahum quloobuny ya'qiloona bihaaa aw aazaanuny yasm'oona bihaa fa innahaa laa ta'mal absaaru wa laakin ta'mal quloobul latee fissudoor

So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.

22:47This ayah

وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِٱلْعَذَابِ وَلَن يُخْلِفَ ٱللَّهُ وَعْدَهُۥ ۚ وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍۢ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ ﴿٤٧﴾

Wa yasta'juloonaka bil'azaabi wa lany yukhlifal laahu wa'dah; wa inna yawman 'inda Rabbika ka'alfi sanatim mimmaa ta'uddoon

And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.

22:48After

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِىَ ظَالِمَةٌۭ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ﴿٤٨﴾

Wa ka ayyim min qaryatin amlaitu lahaa wa hiya zaalimatun summa akhaztuhaa wa ilaiyal maseer

And for how many a city did I prolong enjoyment while it was committing wrong. Then I seized it, and to Me is the [final] destination.

Arabic: Tanzil, Uthmani script. English: Sahih International. Audio: EveryAyah. Transliteration is a learning aid; read from the Arabic when you can.

Read it in Surah Al-Hajj Listen on repeat

Meaning and lessons

What Quran 22:47 means, in brief

The disbelievers mockingly asked the Prophet ﷺ to hurry the punishment they were warned of. Allah replies that He never breaks His promise, and that a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of your counting. Ibn Kathir explains that Allah is not hasty like His creation: a delay is forbearance and a chance to repent, not forgetfulness, and what He has promised will come.

He cites the hadith that the poor among the believers will enter Paradise half a day before the rich, which is five hundred years (Jami at-Tirmidhi, graded hasan sahih). Other ayat mention a day of a thousand years (32:5) and of fifty thousand years (70:4); scholars explain that they describe different things.

Summarised in our own words from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on Quran 22:47. Translation of the ayah: Sahih International.

Lessons from this ayah

Allah's timing is not our timing; delay is not neglect.
Respite is a mercy and a chance to repent.
Time with Allah is measured differently, so do not judge His promise by the clock.

Where Quran 22:47 is in the mushaf

Ayah 47 of Surah Al-Hajj (الحَجِّ), "The Pilgrimage", surah 22 of the Quran, a Medinan surah of 78 ayat revealed in Madinah. It is in juz 17 (para 17), hizb 34, on page 338 of the standard Madinah mushaf. People search for it as 22/47, 22 47 or Quran 22 47.

More verses on this theme: Quran verses about life.

Questions

Good to know

What does Quran 22:47 say?

And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count. (Sahih International)

What is Quran 22:47 about?

Which surah and juz is 22:47 in?

It is in Surah Al-Hajj, surah 22 of the Quran, in juz 17 (para 17), on page 338 of the Madinah mushaf.

What comes before and after 22:47?

The ayah before, 22:46, says: "So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts." The ayah after, 22:48, says: "And for how many a city did I prolong enjoyment while it was committing wrong. Then I seized it, and to Me is the [final] destination."