"They will say, 'We stayed a day or part of a day.'" This is due to the insignificance of the worldly life in their estimation. "So ask the ones who keep count." Qatada said: Meaning, those who keep account, who used to calculate our life spans, similar to His saying: "We only keep count for them, a counting," and it refers to their life spans.
﴿قَالُوا لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْم﴾ وَذَلِكَ لِتَصَاغُرِ الدُّنْيَا عِنْدَهُمْ ﴿فَاسْأَلِ العادين﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: يَعْنِي: الْحُسَّابَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يَحْسِبُونَ آجَالَنَا. مِثْلَ قَوْلِهِ: ﴿إِنَّمَا نعد لَهُم عدا﴾ وَهِي آجالهم
