Surah 20. Ta-Ha, Ayah 103

As in several other places in the Qur’an (e.g., in 2:259, 17:52, 18:19, 23:112-113, 30:55, 79:46, etc.), this and the next verse touch upon the illusory character of man’s consciousness of "time" and, thus, upon the relativity of the concept of "time" as such. The number "ten" is often used in Arabic to denote "a few" (Razi).

Faced with eternity they will realise that their life on this earth, or the interval between their sin and their punishment, had a duration which practically amounted to nothing. They express this by the phrase "ten days", but their wiser heads think that even this is an over-estimate. It was but a brief day!