al-Furqān 25:10-19

"Blessed is He who, had He willed, would have given you better than that!… No — they have denied the Hour."

The tenth verse answers the objection in the eighth (the treasure, the garden) — and the form of the answer must be recorded: the demand is not rejected; it is said to be within reach (in shāʾa jaʿala laka).

And the eleventh verse names the real source of the objection: bal kadhdhabū bi's-sāʿa — "no — they have denied the Hour."

The particle bal must be recorded: it lets go of what was said before and brings in the real cause. I give this as my own reading: the sūra says that beneath the objection that is voiced (wealth, an angel) there lies a refusal that is not voiced. That is, the dispute is not where it appears to be.

"When it sees them from a far place, they hear its raging growl and its roar."

The subject of the verb must be recorded: raʾathum — the one that sees is the fire. That is, the act of seeing has been reversed.

تَغَيُّظ — root غ-ي-ظ: anger that boils up from within. Zafīr — a rasping breath drawn from deep down.

I record this as an observation: both words have to do with sound, and both are sounds belonging to a living thing. The figure of tashkhīṣ (personification) was treated at Qāf 50/30 (hal imtalaʾti); I rely on that treatment.

ثُبُور — destruction, annihilation. The expression is a cry of the sort "woe is me, I am finished!"

And the form of the answer is worth recording: the cry is not forbidden — it is told to be multiplied. Lā tadʿū … thubūran wāḥidan wa'dʿū thubūran kathīrā. I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence answers by refusing to console.

قُلْ أَذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ أَمْ جَنَّةُ ٱلْخُلْدِ (15) — and the block turns upon a question of comparison.

The question is put to those who were served, and their answer is reported: subḥānaka mā kāna yanbaghī lanā an nattakhidha min dūnika min awliyāʾ.

The same reversal was treated at al-Aḥqāf 46/5-6 and at Fāṭir 35/14: the party who was called upon refusing in the end. I rely on that treatment.