Surah 27. An-Naml, Ayah 82

Lit., "comes to pass against them" - i.e., when the truth becomes obvious to them against all their expectations, and thus confounds them utterly: an allusion to the approach of the Last Hour, Resurrection and God's Judgment, all of which they were wont to regard as "fables of ancient times" (cf. verses {67-68} above). Alternatively, the phrase idha waqa'a al-qawl 'alayhim may be understood as "when the sentence [of doom] is passed on them", i.e., at the approach of the Last Hour, when it will be too late for repentance.

The "creature brought forth out of the earth" is apparently an allegory of man's "earthly" outlook on life - in other words, the soul-destroying materialism characteristic of the time preceding the Last Hour. This "creature" parabolically "tells" men that their submergence in exclusively materialistic values - and, hence, their approaching self-destruction - is an outcome of their lack of belief in God. (See also {7:175-176} and the corresponding note [141].)

 The beast is believed to be one of the major signs of the Day of Judgment. No further details are given in reliable resources about this beast.

The Word: the Decree or Sentence, the Decision to end the respite and restore the true values of right and wrong in a new world: their cup of iniquity will then have been full.

The Beast will be one of the Signs of the Last Days to come, before the present World passes away and the new World is brought into being. If taklimuhum is read instead of tukallimuhum, it would mean that the Beast would wound them.