Translation of the meanings Ayah 2 Surah Al-Hijr - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 2

رُّبَمَا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوۡ كَانُواْ مُسۡلِمِينَ

(2) It maybe that^[3087] those who Denied wish that they were Muslims^[3088].

[3087] The particle rubba-mā (translated here as: it maybe that) has proven problematic for both grammarians and exegetes given the interpretation of the meaning of the aya (discussed below). In and of itself, it denotes taqlīl, a weak probability, of something happening, and thus does not exactly fit the interpretation that it is given in this aya. Consequently, scholars also took it to denote al-takthīr, strong probability, of such an occurrence (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Suyūṭī, al-Iklīl). Ibn ʿĀshūr sees that the use of this particle in the case of a given occurrence that will take place is rhetorical; weak probability is used to impart mocking and fear. That is, even if this were to happen on only a few occasions, it would nonetheless happen at times when this regret was felt stronger! (Cf. also al-Zamakhsharī, al-Baiḍāwī, Abū al-Suʿūd)
[3088] It is not specified as to when this wish will actually take place: when they taste defeat at the hands of the Believers, upon their death, on the Day of Judgement and/or when the sinful among the Believers are exited from the Fire in the Hereafter and the Deniers are left behind to languish in it. However, all this boils down to them regretting not Believing all the time when the Truth was clearly revealed to them (cf. al-Shawkānī, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān).