﴿ وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَآبَّةٍۢ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّۭى ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَـْٔخِرُونَ سَاعَةًۭ ۖ وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ ﴾

“Now if God were to take men [immediately] to task for all the evil that they do [on earth], He would not leave a single living creature upon its face. However, He grants them respite until a term set [by Him]: but when the end of their term approaches, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they hasten it.”

One way of dealing with transgression is immediately to seize upon the transgressor and punish him severely. But this is not the way of God. If God acted in this way, nobody would be left on the face of the earth. God has given a definite period of respite (ila ajalim musamma) to every person and every community. During this period God gives man the opportunity to listen to the voice of his conscience or to an external warning and to reform himself. This applies likewise to communities. As soon as people reform themselves, all their past crimes are pardoned: it is as if they had started a new life. Just as God has taken it upon Himself not to seize upon anybody during the period of respite, He has similarly taken it upon Himself after the expiry of this period to necessarily seize upon people. After that no individual or community will be given any further opportunity for reform or repentance.