Transliteration:( Maa lakum kaifa tahkumoon )
"What has happened to you? How do you judge?"
The disbelievers of Makkah arrogantly argued that if both they and the believers were to be resurrected after death, they would be better off because in their worldly life, they were wealthy and the believers were poor. They assumed that their worldly status would give them an advantage in the Hereafter.
These verses were revealed as a refutation of their false assumptions. Allah is questioning their judgment, emphasizing that they should not make presumptions about the Hereafter based on worldly standards. Just as grain and chaff may appear together in the same field, but after separation, they are in distinct places, similarly, the righteous and the wicked will be clearly separated in the Hereafter.
The tafsir of Surah Qalam verse 36 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Qalam ayat 34 which provides the complete commentary from verse 34 through 41.
(68:36) What is the matter with you? How ill do you judge![20]
20. That is, it is against reason that God should not differentiate between the obedient servant and the guilty. How do you regard this as reasonable that the Creator of the universe should, like a blind ruler, not judge which people in the world obeyed His commands and refrained from evildoing, and which people committed every sin and crime and perpetrated every cruelty fearless of His punishment? You have seen the adversity of the believers and your own prosperity, but you have not appreciated the distinction between their good morals and your own evildoing, and have given your judgment without the thought that these obedient people will be treated like culprits by God and the guilty like you will be granted Paradise.
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