Surah Al-Mu’min, Footnote No. 14

That is, when the disbelievers see on the Day of Resurrection what a great folly they committed by building their entire life’s record on polytheism, atheism, denial of the Hereafter, and opposition to the messengers, and to what a terrible fate this folly has now brought them, they will bite their fingers in remorse and, in sheer frustration, curse themselves. At that point the angels will call out to them: today you feel great anger at yourselves, but on the day when Allah’s prophets and other righteous people invited you to the right path in order to save you from this fate, and you rejected their call, Allah’s wrath against you was blazing even more fiercely than this.

Surah Al-Mu’min, Footnote No. 15

“Death twice and life twice” refers to the same matter mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 28: how can you disbelieve in Allah, when you were lifeless and He gave you life; then He will cause you to die, and then bring you back to life again. The disbelievers do not deny the first three of these states, since they are matters of observation and hence undeniable; but they deny the fourth state, since it has not yet come within their observation, and only the prophets have informed them of it. On the Day of Resurrection, when this fourth state too actually comes within their observation, they will admit that indeed what they had been told did come to pass.

Surah Al-Mu’min, Footnote No. 16

That is: we acknowledge that we made a grave mistake in denying this second life, and that by acting upon this false belief, our lives became filled with sin.

Surah Al-Mu’min, Footnote No. 17

That is: is there now any possibility that, our confession of sin being accepted, we might be brought out of this state of punishment in which we now find ourselves?

Surah Al-Mu’min, Footnote No. 18

That is: the judgment now rests solely in the hands of that one God whose sole godhood you were unwilling to accept, and those others whom you so insistently regarded as sharing in the powers of godhood have no part in the judgment at all. (To understand this point, Surah Az-Zumar, verse 45, and its footnote 64 should also be kept in view.) This phrase also carries within it the implication that there is now no way out of this state of punishment for you, because you had not merely denied the Hereafter — you were averse to your own Creator and Sustainer Himself, and found no peace unless you associated others with Him.