وَتَقَطَّعُوا أَمْرَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ كُلٌّ إِلَيْنَا رَاجِعُونَ ﴿۹۳﴾ فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَا كُفْرَانَ لِسَعْيِهِ وَإِنَّا لَهُ كَاتِبُونَ ﴿۹۴﴾ وَحَرَامٌ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا أَنَّهُمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ ﴿۹۵﴾

﴾93﴿ Wa taqatta'ooo amrahum bainahum kullun ilainaaa raaji'oon
﴾94﴿ Famai ya'mal minas saalihaati wa huwa mu'minun falaa kufraana lisa'yihee wa innaa lahoo kaatiboon
﴾95﴿ Wa haraamun 'alaa qaryatin ahlaknaahaaa annahum laa yarji'oon

﴾93﴿ But they divided their religion among themselves, and all of them will return to Us
﴾94﴿ So whoever does righteous deeds while being a believer, there will be no denial of his effort, and indeed, We are recording it
﴾95﴿ And it has been decreed for every city that We have destroyed, they will not return to this world

[93] This punishment is for those who opposed the religion of monotheism, and amr means religion—that is, after abandoning monotheism, they became divided among themselves into different groups and were split into various forms of polytheism and disbelief.
[94] From this verse to the end of the surah is the fifth section. There is glad tidings in verse (94), and detailed warnings of the Hereafter from (95) to (100). Then again, there are detailed glad tidings in three verses, followed by further warnings of the Hereafter and glad tidings. Then comes the mention of the truthfulness of the Messenger in (107), followed by worldly warnings in (109, 111), along with the rejection of associating partners with Allah in knowledge, in three verses. The surah concludes with the rejection of associating others in seeking help and mentions the Prophet’s (May Allah bless him and give him peace) supplication in response to the polytheists.
In this verse (94), the glad tidings are for the believers that their deeds are not wasted, but rather are a cause for reward and recompense, and are preserved with Allah the Exalted. This is a detailed explanation of “taqattaʿū”—meaning all creation is divided into two groups.
“فَلَا كُفْرَانَ لِسَعْيِهِ” — kufrān means ungratefulness and wasting. It is understood that through polytheism and disbelief, and through abandoning righteous deeds (which includes innovation), deeds are nullified. Other verses also support this meaning.
[95] This warning and threat are directed at the second group. There is a difficulty in the verse because the word ḥarām means prohibition, and lā yarjiʿūn means they do not return to the world—or that they do not return from sin to repentance. Thus, the meaning becomes: for the destroyed people, returning to the world and repenting is prohibited. But this implies that they would return to the world and repent, which contradicts other verses, such as Surah Al-Mu’minūn (100), Surah Al-An‘ām (28), and Surah Yā Sīn (31).
The answer to this issue has several aspects:
1. The first interpretation is that ḥarām means obligatory or decreed, and this is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with both of them).
2. The second view is that lā is extra (i.e., not for negation), and this is the opinion of Abū ʿUbayd, but it is not suitable here.
3. The third view is that repentance and faith are ḥarām (prohibited) for the destroyed nations because they cannot return to the world, and the idea of the dead returning to the world is a belief held by the Rāfiḍah (a sect).
As for the popular stories that so-and-so noble or saint was seen alive in the world after death—these are all false stories and deceptions of devils. What was seen on the night of Miʿrāj (Ascension) was the world of images (ʿālam al-mithāl), and it was a miracle. Its details were mentioned in the explanation of the Miʿrāj earlier.