وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَى رَبَّنَا لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْا عُتُوًّا كَبِيرًا ﴿۲۱﴾ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ الْمَلَائِكَةَ لَا بُشْرَى يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ وَيَقُولُونَ حِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا ﴿۲۲﴾ وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَى مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا ﴿۲۳﴾ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَيْرٌ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَأَحْسَنُ مَقِيلًا ﴿۲۴﴾ وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ السَّمَاءُ بِالْغَمَامِ وَنُزِّلَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ تَنْزِيلًا ﴿۲۵﴾ الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا ﴿۲۶﴾

﴾21﴿ Wa qaalal lazeena laa yarjoona liqaaa'anaa law laaa unzila 'alainal malaaa'ikatu awnaraa Rabbanaa; laqadistakbaroo feee anfusihim wa 'ataw 'utuwwan kabeeraa
﴾22﴿ Yawma yarawnal malaaa 'ikata laa bushraa Yawmaizin lil mujrimeena wa yaqooloona hijran mahjooraa
﴾23﴿ Wa qadimnaaa ilaa maa 'amiloo min 'amalin faja'alnaahuhabaaa'an manthooraa
﴾24﴿ As haabul jannati yawma'izin khairun mustaqar ranw wa ahsanu maqeela
﴾25﴿ Wa Yawma tashaqqaqus samaaa'u bilghamaami wa nuzzilal malaaa'ikatu tanzeela
﴾26﴿ Almulku Yawma'izinil haqqu lir Rahmaan; wa kaana Yawman'alal kaafireena 'aseeraa

﴾21﴿ And they say, "Why have angels not been sent down to us, and why do we not see our Lord?" Indeed, they are arrogant in their hearts and have become greatly rebellious
﴾22﴿ The day they see the angels, there will be no glad tidings for the criminals on that day, and they will say, A refuge! A secure refuge
﴾23﴿ And We turned to whatever deeds they had done, and We made them as scattered dust
﴾24﴿ The inhabitants of Paradise on that day will be better in their dwelling and more excellent in their place of rest
﴾25﴿ And the Day when the heavens will be split open with clouds, and the angels will be sent down in successive descent
﴾26﴿ The sovereignty on this day belongs to the Most Merciful, and it is a day that will be difficult for the disbelievers

[21] This too is a rebuke to the deniers for their offensive words and inappropriate demands.
It is a detailed explanation of the trial caused by the deniers against the people of truth. In the verse, there is a structured rhetorical device (parallel mention and explanation).
They say, "Why aren’t the angels sent down to us?" (to inform us of the truthfulness of this prophet)—this is their arrogance.
And they say, "Why don’t we see our Lord, so He may tell us that this prophet of His is true?"—this is extreme rebellion.
A similar statement is found in Surah Bani Isra'il (17:92).
[22] This is the answer to their first question—meaning, the angels will indeed be sent down to them, and they will see them, but not with glad tidings. Rather, the angels will bring news of despair and loss, and will say that happiness is forbidden for you forever.
This refers to the Day of Death and the Day of Judgment. According to this meaning, the pronoun in "they say" refers to the angels.
The second meaning is that the disbelievers will say to the angels, "Grant us complete protection from the punishment." But no protection will be granted to them.
[23] This is the answer to the question: they also had good deeds—showing love to the righteous, serving them, giving charity, and so on. So why has happiness been forbidden to them forever?
The answer is given: their deeds have been rendered void due to their disbelief and shirk, like dust scattered in the air.
[24] This is glad tidings for the believers—those whom the disbelievers used to criticize and mock.
It means their deeds are not in vain.
Maqīlā originally refers to the place of midday rest, but as mentioned in hadith, there is no sleep in Paradise.
So maqīlā here means simply a place of comfort and joy.
[25] This too is a warning of the Hereafter, mentioning seven awe-inspiring scenes of the Day of Judgment.
The first is the splitting of the sky with clouds—or the meaning of ghamām may be the shadow of the light of Allah, and something similar is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:210).
Or ghamām may refer to large groups of angels appearing clearly like clouds.
The second is the descent of the angels for organizing the gathering of the Resurrection.
[26] The third awe-inspiring scene is that absolute sovereignty and authority belong solely to the Most Merciful.
Therefore, no one can intercede or speak without His permission.
The fourth is that this Day will be extremely hard upon the disbelievers, as mentioned in Surah Al-Muddathir (verses 9–10).