63 Preface يَسأَلُكَ النّاسُ عَنِ السّاعَةِ ۖ قُل إِنَّما عِلمُها عِندَ اللَّهِ ۚ وَما يُدريكَ لَعَلَّ السّاعَةَ تَكونُ قَريبًاYusuf AliMen ask thee concerning the Hour: Say, “The knowledge1 thereof is with God (alone)”: and what will make thee understand?—perchance the Hour is nigh!Cf. first n. to verse 7:187, where the idea is further explained. The knowledge of the Final Hour is with God alone. The fact of its coming is certain: the exact time when it will come has not been revealed. If it were, it would disturb our thoughts and life. “Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth.” But at any given moment it cannot be far distant. In theological language, each individual’s death is a Final Hour, a Qiyāmat Ṣuǥrā (Lesser Day of Judgment). In that sense it is not the same for all individuals, and is certainly always near, “In the midst of life we are in death”, as the Anglican Prayer-Book says in its Burial Service.