Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Surah Taha
Surah 20 · Taha · verse 129 of 135

Quran 20:129 · Taha

وَلَوۡلَا كَلِمَةٞ سَبَقَتۡ مِن رَّبِّكَ لَكَانَ لِزَامٗا وَأَجَلٞ مُّسَمّٗى

And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord, punishment would have been an obligation [due immediately], and [if not for] a specified term [decreed]

Translation: Sahih International
Maulana’s commentary · Tazkirul Quran

If a community reaches the zenith of its progress in the world and then is made to face destruction or subjection, it is always because it has transgressed its limits. Every community so destroyed leaves a lesson for its successors. But there are very few people who care to learn a lesson from such events. It is worth noting that the advice given here about the repeated glorification and remembrance of God and prayer was first given in Makkah; these practices were meant to be observed in the most trying and serious conditions of the Makkan period. This indicates that in the most difficult days of denial and tough opposition, prayers (salat) and remembrance of God are the best shields for the faithful. The principal benefit to man of these actions is that they lead to a smoothing of the paths to success in this world and the next.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Tazkirul Quran

In the lectures

Maulana does not cite this verse in the lectures indexed so far. The verses of this surah Maulana does cite →