Al-Hijr • EN-TAFISR-IBN-KATHIR
﴿ مَّا تَسْبِقُ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسْتَـْٔخِرُونَ ﴾
“[but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it].”
Every Township has its allotted Time Allah is informing us that He never destroys a township until He has established evidences for it and its allotted time has ended. When the time for a nation's destruction has come, He never delays it, and He never moves its appointed time forward. This was a message and a warning to the people of Makkah, telling them to give up their Shirk, their stubbornness and disbelief for which they deserved to be destroyed.