6:57-58
6:57
Say: “For me, I (work) on a clear sign from my Lord, but ye reject Him. What ye would see hastened, is not in my power. The command rests with none but Allah: He declares the truth, and He is the best of judges.”
Ibn Kathir explains that the statement, “Say: I am on clear proof from my Lord,” indicates that the Prophet possesses certain and evident knowledge of the divine law revealed to him by God, while his opponents reject and disbelieve in the truth that has come from God. The verse further clarifies that the Prophet does not control the punishment his opponents demand; rather, judgment belongs solely to God, who may hasten punishment or grant respite according to His wisdom. God alone determines the final decision and is the most just judge among His servants (Ibn Kathir).
Ibn Kathir also comments on the verse stating that if the Prophet possessed the punishment people were hastily requesting, the matter would already have been settled between them. However, ultimate knowledge of wrongdoing and the appropriate response belongs to God alone. In addition, the Qur’anic statement that “with Him are the keys of the unseen” emphasizes that knowledge of the unseen is exclusively within God’s domain. A prophetic tradition reported in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī identifies five matters known only to God: the timing of the Hour, the sending of rain, the condition of what is in the wombs, what a person will earn tomorrow, and the place where a person will die (Ibn Kathir; Qur’an 31:34).
According to Ibn Kathir, God’s knowledge encompasses all things in existence, including everything on land and in the sea. Nothing escapes His awareness, not even the fall of a single leaf. This comprehensive knowledge extends to all created beings, both animate and inanimate, as well as to the inner intentions of human beings, as reflected in the Qur’anic statement that God knows “the fraud of the eyes and what the breasts conceal” (Qur’an 40:19). Likewise, every grain in the darkness of the earth and every living or nonliving thing is recorded in a clear register known to God (Ibn Kathir)
6:58
Say: “If what ye would see hastened were in my power, the matter would be settled at once between
you and me. But Allah knoweth best those who do wrong.”
References:
Kathir, Ibn. Tafsir Ibn Kathir. (surah 6 verse 57).