Approaching the West — Page 191
A pproaching the West—191 The Hour will be Sudden No one knows the exact time of the End other than God, but whenever it arrives, there will be an element of suddenness and surprise: And to All ā h belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth; and the matter of the Hour is but as the twinkling of an eye. Nay, it is nearer still. Surely, All ā h has power over all things. (16:78) To Him alone is referred the knowledge of the Hour… (41:48) Men ask you concerning the Hour. Say, ‘The knowledge of the Hour is with All ā h alone. ’ And what will make you know that the Hour is nigh? (33:64) Do they, then, feel secure from the coming on them of an overwhelming punishment from All ā h or the sudden coming of the Hour upon them while they are unaware? (12:108) A Calamitous Time The Holy Qur’ ā n gives a vivid picture that it would be a devastation of universal proportions when the purging shall be made: The great Calamity! What is great Calamity? And what should make you know what the great Calamity is? The day when mankind will