وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ “And indeed, for those who have wronged is a punishment besides that, but most of them do not know”.
The ending underscores: “but most of them do not know”.
“دُونَ” can imply: less than, before/prior to, other than/besides, and near/adjacent.
In “عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ”, the “that” (ذَٰلِكَ) refers to the Hereafter’s punishment, while “دُونَ” points to a punishment in this worldly life.
Understood here as punishment occurring before the Hereafter. It is understood to refer to the Day of the battle of Badr where Quraysh were struck with a devastating defeat and their leaders were struck down.
“That” refers to the Hereafter’s punishment, encompassing both the trials of the Day of Judgement and the punishment of Hellfire.
The two preceding verses used the pronoun “them” (هُمْ) as in ذَرْهُمْ and لَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُمْ. Here, the verse shifts to لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا — “those who have wronged”.
This is Al-Izh’haar fee Maqaam-il-Idmaar: a noun replaces a pronoun to add new meaning — explicitly labeling them as wrongdoers/oppressors (ظَالِمُون). It is as if what was said about them earlier is summarized by the phrase الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا.
The verse may not be limited to the people of Makkah and the enemies of the Prophet ﷺ. It can be read as a general statement about all who perpetrate ظُلْم — transgression, injustice, wronging themselves and others, and oppression — until Judgement Day.
The previous instruction to leave “them” until they meet the Day in which they will be struck down covered the specific group; this ayah also presents a broader reality: wrongdoers have a punishment other than that.
Leaders such as those of Quraysh and فِرْعَوْن exemplify those whose crimes were immense.
Those who committed ظُلْم but whose crimes were not as great.
ظُلْم includes transgression, injustice, wronging themselves and others, and oppression.
The verse closes by noting the lack of awareness among most people regarding this reality.