وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَىٰ هَٰذَا ٱلْفَتْحُ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ · قُلْ يَوْمَ ٱلْفَتْحِ لَا يَنفَعُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِيمَٰنُهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ
Wa yaqūlūna matā hādha'l-fatḥu in kuntum ṣādiqīn · Qul yawma'l-fatḥi lā yanfaʿu'lladhīna kafarū īmānuhum wa lā hum yunẓarūn
"'When is this fatḥ, if you are truthful?' they say. Say: 'On the day of the fatḥ, the faith of those who disbelieved will not profit them, nor will they be granted any respite.'"
The root was analysed in detail in al-Fatḥ on the occasion of that sūra's name (to open what is shut; fattāḥ, miftāḥ) and occurred again in Fāṭir 35/2 with the verb yaftaḥ. I do not repeat it here.
There is a disagreement in the classical works of exegesis over the use here, and it must not be concealed:
| View | What al-fatḥ is |
|---|---|
| 1 | Judgement, separation — from the root's sense of "opening": the case being opened and brought to a decision. Indeed the word fātiḥ is used in Arabic for a judge as well, and fatāḥa is judgement |
| 2 | The coming of the punishment — an outcome like what befell those peoples |
| 3 | The Day of Resurrection — the final parting |
All three views are transmitted in the sources. I do not impose a preference, and I set up no equation with a particular historical event.
I record that the first view has a ground from within the language, and I give this as an observation: the preceding block had ended with inna rabbaka huwa yafṣilu baynahum (25) — separating. And the sense of judgement in the word fatḥ says the same work with another root. This is a closeness that can be verified from the text — but it is not a preference.
A question of the same structure was treated in al-Maʿārij 70/1 (saʾala sāʾilun bi-ʿadhābin wāqiʿ), and the observation recorded there holds here too: the questioner asks for a date, the verse gives no date. I rely on that treatment.
The form of the answer here must be recorded, and it is verifiable: the answer does not touch the matā question at all. The question is "when?" — the answer is "what will happen on that day."
I record this as my own reading; its ground is how the answer is built: qul yawma'l-fatḥi lā yanfaʿu… — the sentence takes the word of the question (al-fatḥ), turns it into an adverb of time, and builds a ruling upon it. That is, the question is not answered; the word of the question is set inside a ruling.
لَا يَنفَعُ … إِيمَٰنُهُمْ — and what is said is heavy: it is said not that faith will not be had but that the faith that is had will not profit on that day.
This is directly connected with the twelfth verse and is a line that can be verified within the sūra: there innā mūqinūn had been said — certain knowledge had been acknowledged in the scene. The twenty-ninth verse gives the ruling on the same thing: faith at that hour does not count.
وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ — root ن-ظ-ر, passive of Form IV: "they will not be granted a respite". The "looking" and "granting a respite" branches of the root were tabulated in al-Dukhān 44/59 (in the comparison of naẓar / irtiqāb). I rely on that treatment.
And the choice of the word is worth recording: the next verse ends with two words from the same root — wa'ntaẓir innahum muntaẓirūn. That is, the last two verses of the sūra use the same root three times. It is tabulated below.